News Archive

UWA Business School
Early career and established researchers alike have been recognised with the announcement of the winners of two sets of awards: the Business School Established Researcher ‘Best Paper' Prizes, and the Ahern Family Early Career Research Portfolio Prizes.

The Established Researcher Prizes were this year awarded to four papers, authored by Dr. Sam-Ho Lee, Dr. Andrew Williams, Winthrop Professor Julie Lee and Winthrop Professor Geoff Soutar, and Associate Professor Gillian Yeo.  All four papers appeared in journals that have been rated as "A*" under the new Excellence in Research in Australia (ERA) rankings.

Assistant Professors Wade Jarvis and Jing Yu were the winners of the Ahern Family Awards. These awards recognise an early career researcher's programme of research, relative to the often limited opportunities available to them.

‘The level of research coming out of the Business School has been particularly impressive this year,' said Professor Tracey Horton, Dean of the Business School. ‘The papers and researchers that were awarded prizes all made important contributions to their respective fields, and we're very proud of what our staff have achieved.'

Dr. Lee's paper, ‘Jumping the Curse: Early Contracting with Private Information in University Admissions,' was published in the International Economic Review. It examines the ways in which admissions processes at American universities affect the quality of admitted students, and then applies the results to the ways in which workers are hired. The paper asks whether a longer admissions or appointment process does actually allow a potential college or employer to more accurately assess a candidate's true ability.

Dr. Williams' paper developed a new index that measured the amount of information released by governments across 175 countries between 1960 and 2000. The paper concluded that when governments released more information, there was a positive effect on bureaucracy, as well as investment and financial sector development within their countries. Titled ‘On the release of information by governments: Causes and consequences,' the paper was published in the Journal of Development Economics.

Professors Lee and Soutar, together with researchers from the UK and Germany, examined the ways in which our values can continue to change throughout adulthood. These value changes were found to be largely consistent, and were linked to the life events of study participants. Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the paper was titled ‘The Structure of Intraindividual Value Change.'

Assoc. Professor Yeo, together with researchers from UWA, the University of Queensland and the University of Dayton, authored ‘Goal Orientations and Performance: Differential Relationships Across Levels of Analysis and as a Function of Task Demands.' Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the paper found that the way in which tasks are presented and perceived can influence how well a person performs.

Assistant Professor Jarvis is a member of the Business School's marketing discipline. His research interests include consumer loyalty, pricing, and the structure of the wine market.

Assistant Professor Yu is a member of the Accounting and Finance discipline. She is currently conducting research into corporate governance, empirical microstructure, and international finance.

The ‘Best Paper' prizes were established by the Dean of the Business School with the aim of recognising and rewarding research excellence within the school. Up to four prizes are awarded annually, and $2,500 is awarded to each winner.

Media Reference

Heather Merritt
Director, External Relations
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 8171
E: [email protected]

Verity Chia
Communications Officer
UWA Business School
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