Journal articles

• Edwards, R.B. and Suryadarma, D. (2022) “Social and Economic Impacts of Online Marketplaces on Women in Asia”, Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, 9:3 (editors’ special issue introduction).

• Hadiwidjaja, G., Falcon, W.P., Edwards, R.B., Higgins, M.M., Naylor, R.L., and Sumarto, S. (2022), “Using Conditional Cash Payments to Prevent Land-Clearing Fires: Cautionary Findings from Indonesia”, Agriculture, 12:7 [TNP2K Working Paper]

• Curtain, R., Edwards, R.B., Tani, M., and Withers, G (2022), “It is time for a new regional compact”, Australian Economic Review, May [Parliamentary Library briefing]

• Halimatussadiah, A., Edwards, R.B., Maulia, R.F., and Moeis, F.R. (2022), “Agriculture, Development, and Sustainability in the COVID-19 Era”, Bulletin of Indonesia Economic Studies, April (invited survey article).

• Edwards, R.B. (2020) “Bubble in, bubble out: lessons for the global recovery and future crises from COVID-19 and the Pacific”, World Development, November.

• Edwards, R.B., Falcon, W.P., Higgins, M.M., and Naylor, R.L. (2020) “Causes of Indonesia’s forest fires”, World Development, March.

• Naylor, R.L., Higgins, M.M., Edwards, R.B., and Falcon, W.P. (2019) “Decentralization and the environment: assessing smallholder oil palm development in Indonesia”, Ambio, Jan, pp. 1-14

• Edwards, R.B. (2017) “The Oil Palm Complex”, Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, 34: 2, pp. 430-431 (invited book review)

• Edwards, R.B. (2016) “Mining away the Preston curve”, World Development, 78, February 2018, pp. 22-36 [Wikipedia coverage]

Working papers

• “Export agriculture and rural poverty: evidence from Indonesian palm oil”, Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of International Economics [paper] [Development Impact blog] [Slides]

• “Fight fire with finance: a randomized field experiment to curtail land-clearing fire in Indonesia”, with Wally Falcon, Grace Hadiwidjaja, Matt Higgins, Roz Naylor, and Sudarno Sumarto (Stanford) Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics [AEA trial registration] [TTPI Working Paper] [TNP2K Working Paper] [Mongabay story] [Policy brief] [Podcast] [Slides]

• “Spillovers from agricultural processing” [Paper] [Slides]. New draft coming soon!

• “Tongan remittances: channels, costs, and the potential gains from switching”, with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma (ADBI) [ADBI working paper] [slides]

• “The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme”, with Toan Nguyen (ANU) [Slides]. New draft coming soon!

• “The place premium: evidence from three Pacific labour mobility schemes”, with Toan Nguyen (ANU), Dung Doan, and Matt Dornan (World Bank) [slides] [recording] New draft coming soon!

• “Vocational qualification supply, demand, and returns: the case of the Australia Pacific Training Coalition”, with Tunye Qui (ANU) [slides] [watch presentation]

Selected ongoing field research projects

• Small Firm Diaries, with Jonathan Morduch (NYU), Tim Ogden (NYU), and Neelesh Gounder (USP) [preliminary Fiji findings slides]. Data collection complete. Final report and papers forthcoming.

• The Remittance Diaries, with Jonathan Morduch (NYU), Tim Ogden (NYU), and Hannah Postel (Stanford). Data collection complete. Analysis and write-up underway.

• “Agricultural productivity, poverty, and the environment”, with Alin Halimatussadiah (UI), Elan Satriawan (TNP2K and UGM), and Emilia Tjernstrom (Monash). Seed and pilot funding from J-PAL K-CAI and KONEKSI. Currently piloting in the field.

• “Promoting employment and welfare for the poor in Papua New Guinea through assistance in international labor migration”, with Dean Yang (UMich). Seed and pilot funding from J-PAL SPI. Pilot scheduled to be in the field 2024.

• Shifting migration attitudes and perceptions in Australia, with Toan Nguyen and Terence Wood (ANU)

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, Wave Two, with the World Bank (multiple co-PIs).

Major completed field research projects

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey, Wave One, with the World Bank (multiple co-PIs). Financially supported by DFAT’s Pacific Research Program. Full report. Two-pager. Blog. AAC 2023 Launch Presentation. AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Video. Worker findings slides. Blogs on Devpolicy. Canberra Times coverage. VBTC coverage. Radio New Zealand coverage. Public data forthcoming.

• An experiment to curtail land-clearing fire in Indonesia, with Stanford University (multiple co-PIs), Sampan Kalimantan, the Packard Foundation, and the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, 2017—2019. Papers and other material above.

Selected presentations, media, policy, and other writing

• Immigration is good, actually, Building Beautifully, 14 April 2024 (comments)

• Migration and development, Guest lecture for Governing Global Migration, 19 March 2024

• It pays to switch remittance service providers, so what’s stopping people?, Devpolicy, 16 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Customer choices are keeping Pacific remittance costs high, Devpolicy, 14 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Remittance costs in the Pacific: measurement matters, Devpolicy, 12 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)

• Australia’s immigration spike not necessarily driving up housing prices, experts say, The Guardian, 12 Dec 2023 (comments)

• Evaluating Pacific-Australia labour mobility, Public Sector Economics Conference, ANU, 21 November 2023

• New data to inform big decisions around Pacific labour mobility, Devpolicy, 20 November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)

• The Gains and Pains of Working Away from Home: The Case of Temporary Migrant Workers in Australia and New Zealand, World Bank and ANU, November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan) [Full report] [Two-pager] [Canberra Times coverage] [VBTC coverage] [Radio New Zealand coverage] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Slides] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Video]

• Look at the evidence: Cutting immigration would be a mistake for Australia, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, 1 Nov 2023 (with Steven Hamilton)

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Key Worker Survey Findings, PALM Advisory Group meeting, 15 September 2023, and Pacific Heads of Mission Workshop, 16 October 2023 (with Dung Doan)

• PALM Hours, Devpolicy, 10 August 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)

• The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Australian Workshop on Public Finance, 4 August 2023, ANU (subsequently Melbourne Institute and USyd)

• Palm oil and economic development: a brief review of recent evidence, ASEAN Chairmanship Energy Sector Event, 2 August 2023, Jakarta

• The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Toan Nguyen)

• The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Worker Survey Findings, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Dung Doan)

• Insights on Small Firms in Fiji, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Michelle Kempis)

• Pacific migration and survey data, Pacific Labour Mobility Technical Working Group Meeting, May 2023 (with Dung Doan)

• Women in online marketplaces: new research, Devpolicy

• ODE will not be returning. What’s the best alternative for a modern development program? Intel, Development Intelligence Lab

• Seasonal work supports everyday expenses in Tonga, Devpolicy (with Hiroshi Maeda)

• Migration seems to be shifting gender norms in Tonga, Devpolicy

• Tongans support labour mobility, Devpolicy

• The need for serious evidence in development and migration policy, Public Sector Economist Conference presentation, Canberra, November

• Public opinion and gender norms in migrant sending countries, Australasian AID Conference presentation, Canberra, November

• Three questions on Tongan remittances, Devpolicy (with Toan Nguyen, Dung Doan, and Matt Dornan) [Nuku’alofa Times article]

• Chinese (and Western) aid boosts short-run economic growth, Devpolicy

• A proposal for a new regional compact to promote people mobility, Devpolicy (with Richard Curtain, Max Tani, and Glenn Withers)

• Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about migration policy, ePODstemology podcast, with Mark Fabian, Jan

• Indonesia 2045: Towards Water Security, World Bank, 1 Dec

• ABC Pacific Beat interview on the new Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, Wednesday 15 September

• Pacific islanders in Australia, Interdepartmental Committee on Pacific Education and Labour Mobility New Policy Measures, 9 August, Australian Government [Slides]

• Does emigration hurt businesses in migrant-sending countries? Devpolicy

• Submission to DFAT’s Pacific Labour Mobility Consultation (with Richard Curtain, Stephen Howes, Rochelle Lee Bailey, Charlotte Bedford, and Michael Rose)

• NOVAFRICA Sustainable Development Talks podcast, Season 2 Episode 13

• ABC Pacific Beat interview on skilled migration, Monday 7 June

• Economic development in the Pacific (presentation slides for the course “Understanding the Pacific”)

• Australian aid cuts at odds with changing public opinion, DevPolicy(with Terence Wood)

• Pacific Labour Mobility in 2050: Australia’s role: Submission to the DFAT consultation on the Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy (with Stephen Howes)

• COVID-19 and food systems in the Indo-Pacific: An assessment of vulnerabilities, impacts and opportunities for action, ACIAR, November

• Blog your development PhD research Devpolicy

• Discussing, refereeing, dealing with rejections, and keeping up to date (presentation slides)

• Evidence for the Senate Select Committee on Temporary Migration Hansard 14 October (with Stephen Howes and Holly Lawton)

• Evidence for the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Hansard 16 September (with Richard Curtain)

• Pacific islander communities and employment in Australia, DevPolicy (with Beth Orton)

• Submission to the Select Committee on Temporary Migration (with Holly Lawton)

• Altruism, China and attitudes to aid, Devpolicy (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)

• Australians support the Pacific travel bubble, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood) ABC Pacific Beat interview

• COVID-19 has not caused a fall in Australians’ support for aid, DevPolicy (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)

• Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (with Richard Curtain)

• Three insights from the Kiribati Social Development Indicator Survey, DevPolicy

• Study in Australia or teach in the Pacific?, DevPolicy (with Satish Chand)

• Submission to the review of Australia’s new international development policy (with Stephen Howes, Terence Wood, and Sherman Surandiran)

• Thinking about brain drain: part three, DevPolicy

• Thinking about brain drain: part two, DevPolicy

• Thinking about brain drain, DevPolicy

• Has resource extraction reduced poverty?, Inside Indonesia

• How has our rising palm oil consumption affected the communities where it comes from?, World Bank Development Impact

• Resources for writing well

• Resource wealth and direct dividend payments: what’s missing?, Devpolicy

• Submission to the Productivity Commission public inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning

• Has this government compromised the most sacred process of all, the budget?, The Canberra Times

• Review of the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (with Carly Stephan)