Mr Anthony Kosturjak

• Biography/ Background

  The world is overflowing with data. A recent International Data Corporation report estimates that more data will be created over the next three years than over the past 30 years. Faced with such an information overload and a rapidly changing world, how does one make sense of the various and often conflicting strands of information?

  For senior research economist Anthony Kosturjak, the scientific method has always held a particular appeal in terms of its ability to describe and help explain all this complex information. During high school, this fascination quickly turned to the discipline of economics in response to a major economic shock.

  As Anthony explains “the early 1990s recession and surge in unemployment emphasised to me the importance of the economy and economic issues in impacting peoples’ lives. I was drawn to economics and its ability to understand and influence societal wellbeing, whether through specific policy choices, institutional settings, peoples’ behaviour or technological change.”

  After undertaking honours at the University of Adelaide in 1998 (looking at the impact on the music industry of allowing parallel imports), Anthony soon joined the SA Centre for Economic Studies which allowed him to apply the tools of economics to a wide variety of complex economic and social issues ranging from global through to local such as:

  • how are countries looking to use hydrogen technologies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
  • how vulnerable are Australia’s regions to future projected climate change?
  • what are the economic and social impacts on regional communities of marine parks established to protect marine habitats? Do they help or hinder those communities?
  • how can the Australian Government best support the development of a promising local space launch industry?
  • what are the impacts of gambling on local communities?
  • how can local governments best support their communities during the global coronavirus pandemic?

  These topics represent just a handful of the economic and social issues that Anthony has been tasked with investigating. During his more than 20-year career at SACES Anthony has worked on almost 150 projects across a diverse range of areas from space, to labour markets to high performance computing and everything in between.

  As Anthony describes it “there is a common thread in all my work and that is applying specialist economic and analytical skills to make sense of complex data and policy issues so that it can be used to help make decisions that will impact people’s lives for the better.”

  Anthony’s specialist skills include input output modelling, cost benefit analysis, statistical modelling, program evaluation, survey and interview design, and literature reviews. He is also a regular co-lead author of SACES’s Economic Briefing Report which provides a review of the current economic situation and outlook for the South Australian, national and world economies.

• Qualifications

  Bachelor of Economics (Hons) (University of Adelaide)

• Publications

  • 'Fifth Social and Economic Impact Study of Gambling in Tasmania. Volume 1: Industry Trends and Impacts'. Report prepared by O'Neil, M., Whetton, S., Kosturjak, A., Hancock, J., Dey, T., Delfabbro, P., Sproston, K., Wittwer, G., and Eslake, S.
    
  • 'Advancing Hydrogen: Learning from 19 plans to advance hydrogen from across the globe'. Future Fuels CRC (2019). Report prepared by Kosturjak, A., Dey, T., Young, M.D., and Whetton, S.
    
  • 'Sanctuary Zones Regional Impact Assessment Statement: Ceduna, Kangaroo Island and Port Wakefield'. Goyder Institute for Water Research Technical Report Series (2015) No. 15/43, Adelaide, South Australia. Report prepared by Kosturjak, A., Whetton, S., O'Neil, M., and Trevithick, M.
  • 'Responsible Gambling and Casinos'. Report prepared for Gambling Research Australia (2015) by O'Neil, M., Delfabbro, P., Whetton, S., Sproston, K., Kosturjak, A., Kaye, L., and Abdul Halim, S.
  • 'The South Australian Economy in Transition' in Economic Briefing Report, SA Centre for Economic Studies, Vol. 32 No. 1. Prepared by Kosturjak, A., and Kaye, L.
  • 'Central Local Government Region Integrated Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment'. National Disaster Resilience Program, Project No: NDR 0910-003. Report prepared for the Central Local Government Region of South Australia (2011) by Balston, J.M., Billington, K., Cowan, H., Hayman, P., Kosturjak, A., Milne, T., Rebbeck, M., Roughan, S., and Townsend, M.
  • 'Problem Gamblers and the Role of the Financial Sector'. Occasional Paper No. 33 prepared for the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (2010) by Chandler, N., Kosturjak, A., and O'Neil, M.
  • 'Social and Economic Impact Study into Gambling in Tasmania', Volume 1 and Volume 2: the Prevalence Study. Prepared for the Department of Treasury and Finance (2008) by O'Neil, M., Chandler, N., Kosturjak, A., Whetton, S., Wheeler, S., the School of Psychology (University of Adelaide) with the assistance of Harrison Health Research (Adelaide).
  • 'The Relative Decline of Manufacturing Employment in South Australia'. Economic Issues Paper (2004) by Kosturjak, A., and Wilson-Smith, J.

   

• Professional Associations

  Economic Society of Australia

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 29 Mar 2022

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