Projects

Since resuming Erskinomics in October 2013, the major projects have been:

Tanzania Country Study of Illicit Financial Flows, commissioned by Bank of Tanzania and funded by the Government of Norway, late 2014-early 2016. Alex Erskine was International Project Manager and Dr Ameth Saloum Ndiaye from University of Dakar, Senegal, was International Technical Advisor.

Barriers to entry and financial integration in Asia and RCEP countries, a paper for the Financial Integration in the Asia-Pacific program of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, published July 2017.

Consultancy with Shanghai Institute for the International Financial Centre with Jeff Schubert, outlining lessons from other IFCs, 2014.

Regulating_the_Australian_Financial_System, a paper for the Funding Australia’s Future project of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, published July 2014.

Private sector engagement of multilateral development institutions, a paper by Sustineo for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Research for AVCAL, Australia’s venture capital and private equity association, for its submissions to the Financial System Inquiry.

APEC Financial Regulators Training Initiative regional seminars

Understanding Modern Financial Markets and Products, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2-6 December 2013
Risk-focused Supervision, Nadi Fiji 18-22 November 2013

Research for a short article on issues in Australian Agriculture

In the first incarnation of Erskinomics, 1999 – 2007:

Assistance on Writing Financial Stability Reports (FSRs), GTZ – State Bank of Vietnam, February – June 2007

Lao PDR Financial Sector Study, the World Bank, February – June 2007

TA for Formulating Strategy on International Integration of the Banking Sector, approx $500,000 AusAID-funded assistance to the State Bank of Vietnam under the Vietnam Australia Capacity for Effective Governance Facility, September 2004 – November 2005

The project arose from Vietnam’s negotiations for accession to the WTO. Mr Erskine was Lead International Consultant of a team from Erskinomics, the Centre for International Economics and Vietbid. The project involved a Training Needs Analysis; a Comparative Study on how other countries have approached banking sector international integration and a Competitiveness Study on issues for Vietnam; several workshops; a Study Visit to Australia; recommendation of specialised international training courses; four 5-day in-country training courses; and two public seminars. Mr Erskine then assisted with an ADB Public Policy Training Program “Towards a robust and efficient financial system in Vietnam” led by Dr Stephen Grenville in October 2006 and conducted follow-up GTZ training courses on opening the banking sector to international competition for Senior Executives of SBV in November 2006 and November 2007.

Liberalising capital movements in ASEAN (AusAID-funded research report under the Australia-ASEAN Development Cooperation Program – Regional Economic Policy Support Facility), December 2002 – July 2003

As Team Leader of an Erskinomics team of 3 including Dr Stephen Grenville, Mr Erskine reviewed pros, cons and lessons from capital account liberalization and recommended sequences of capital account, financial and other reforms so that all 10 ASEAN countries may move towards freer capital flows by 2020 with risks minimized and benefits maximized. Fieldwork with senior officials and advisers was undertaken in all ASEAN countries in coordination with Centre for International Economics and the draft report presented to an ASEAN workshop.

R&D and Innovation Policies: An International Comparison, report commissioned by the Australian Innovation Association and the Australian Institute for Commercialisation, October – December 2002

Finance Sector Review, Thailand Australia Capacity Building Facility (AusAID-funded), May 2001 – August 2002

Mr Erskine assembled a small team to assess capacity building needs in the Thai finance sector, focusing on Bank of Thailand, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and NESDB. The project involved an initial 3-week study, 3 later follow-up visits and desk work, and recommended to AusAID a strategy for assistance, followed by review/recommendations on 35 requested projects, and development of Terms of Reference for 15 approved projects with budgets up to $350,000. Capacity building topics spanned supervision, capital markets, bankruptcy processes and asset management, forecasting and early warning systems and governance. Mr Erskine assisted on two of the projects arising:

Developing the markets for corporate bonds and derivatives, Bank of Thailand – Securities Institute, May 2003
Workshop on accounting for the public interest in government-owned Specialised Financial Institutions (SFIs), Fiscal Policy Office, July 2002

Australian Stock Exchange Limited: Two Asia Pacific Projects in 2000