Professor Lisa Farrell
Professor of Economics, Director of the Societal Economics Research Group (SERG)
Professor of Economics, Director of the Societal Economics Research Group (SERG)
COBL | School of Economics, Finance and Marketing
Director of the Societal Economics Research Group (SERG)
Email: lisa.farrell@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 39925 5891
Campus: Melbourne City
COBL | School of Economics, Finance and Marketing
Director of the Societal Economics Research Group (SERG)
Email: lisa.farrell@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 39925 5891
Campus: Melbourne City
Lisa’s research field is on the general area of applied microeconomics. Her work has a strong focus on aspects of behaviour that involve the consumption of risky products, in particular, gambling, smoking and alcohol consumption. Her work has spanned both the theoretical and micro-econometric aspects social and economic inclusion and the academic impact of this work is clear from the important contributions she has made leading to publications in high quality international journals. Lisa endeavours to communicate her findings to the broadest audience possible and her work has been published in leading economics, statistical and public health journals. These include the American Economic Review, The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, and Social science and Medicine, among others. Her work has a strong welfare and wellbeing focus, helping to strengthen social and economic inclusion through clear policy recommendations.
Her expertise within the field of the economics of gambling and policy has led Lisa to act as a consultant to both the UK and Victoria governments on aspects related to problem gambling and gambling legislation.
Lisa actively embraces opportunities to work in partnership with key stakeholders and external organisations. She also aims to disseminate her research findings to policy makers and so have impact through policy channels. She sees this as an effective way to allow her research to better the lives of those affected by social and economic exclusion and so improve the wellbeing and sustainability of our communities and societies.
Throughout her career Lisa has shown a strong commitment to policy work in numerous reports and bulletins that she has prepared for government as well as giving government briefing seminars summarising her research findings. Early in her career she worked on secondment as an Economist in The Department for Culture Media and Sport, UK Government gaining valuable first-hand experience of government policy making processes. She has also acted as a consultant and expert adviser for the Victorian State Government in Australia and as an expert adviser to the UK National Lottery Commission. This reflects her ability to mesh publication quality research with the policy dimension.
In summary, through her highly developed economic and statistical tool kit Lisa has influenced academic thought and scholarship in regard to economic and social inclusion/exclusion and the impact on society of such poor life outcomes. Her work has reached the widest academic community through Lisa’s publication strategy. Further, she has been active in policy circles, both within Australia and internationally. Lisa sees economic and social policy as an important instrument through which society is protected from harm and through which healthy, sustainable communities can be created. Strong economic and social inclusion can only occur when those engaged in research actively engage with service provides, other stakeholders and policy makers.
Professor Farrell is a Professor in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing and Director of the Markets, Culture and Behaviour research priority area. She holds a PhD in Economics. Ph.D. Economics, Keele University. Professor Farrell’s field of research is applied microeconomics. Her main area of expertise is in the fields of behavioural and health economics and, in particular, the consumption of risky (addictive) products. She is also an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Gambling Business and Economics.Research Interests.
Throughout her career Lisa has shown a strong commitment to policy relevant research. She has been involved in policy related projects with The Victorian Department of Justice, the Australian Productivity Commission, the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), and the Irish Universities Association. This indicates the transformative impact of her work and the deep connections she has with external stakeholders in her field of research demonstrating the impact of her research beyond traditional academic outputs. A project in partnership with VicHealth was the RMIT FOR15 Impact Case Study for ERA 2018 which was awarded a ‘Medium’ ranking overall with a ‘high’ ranking for engagement.
Lisa's research interests lie in Applied Microeconomics, with a particular focus on important contemporary social policy issues such as decision making under risk and uncertainty, and health behaviours. Much of her published research to date has focused on the microeconomic modelling of individual behaviour, utilising a discrete choice modelling framework and panel data techniques. Topics she has worked on include Consumer Behaviour, Health Behaviours and Behavioural Economics/ Economic Psychology.
Subjective Wellbeing, Health Economics, Economic Psychology, Societal Economics, Economics of Gambling, Economics of Lifestyle Choices and Risky Behaviours
Publications
Projects
Awards
Lisa is an effective Higher Degree by Research supervisor and has supervised many Honours students. She has also supervised 5 PhD students to completion. She encourages her students to obtain scholarships and win awards. For example, Katie Belle (Honours University of Melbourne) won the Meredith Edwards Award from the Australian Economics Society in 2003. This is a national award given to the best essay from a female student. Claire Finn (PhD UCD) won an Endeavor Award from the Australian Department for Education, Science and Training and Eibhlin Hubson, (PhD UCD) won a national Irish Humanities and Social Science Research Council scholarship.
Current students are working in the field of:
American Economic Review 92 (3), 613-624
R Hartley, L Farrell (2002).
Health Economics 28 (9), 1075-1087
S Awaworyi Churchill, L Farrell, R Smyth (2019).
Social science & medicine 123, 55-63
L Farrell, B Hollingsworth, C Propper, MA Shields (2014).
Publications
Publications
Short papers, notes, and comments
Edited books
Book chapters
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Publications
Short papers, notes, and comments
Book chapters
Publications
Publications
Book chapters
Publications
Publications
Publications
Short papers, notes, and comments
L. Farrell and S. Awaworyi Churchill
Reid, M., Farrell, L., Farrelly, F. and Fry, T.R.L.
Farrell, L., and Fry, T.R.L. (2013) ‘Is illicit tobacco demand sensitive to relative price?’ Economic Papers: A journal of applied economics and policy, Volume 32(1), pp. 1-9.
Recipients: Lisa Farrell
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.
-