Professor Roger Wilkins

Professorial Research Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey

Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research

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Biography

Roger Wilkins joined the Melbourne Institute in 2001 and works in the HILDA Survey team, in which he is Deputy Director (Research). He holds a B.Com(Hons), M.Com(Hons) and PhD from the University of Melbourne and an M.Sc from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include the nature, causes and consequences of labour market outcomes; the distribution and dynamics of individuals’ economic wellbeing; and the incidence and determinants of poverty, social exclusion and welfare dependence.
As part of his work in the HILDA Survey team, Prof Wilkins produces the annual HILDA Survey Statistical Report, which each year analyses the latest release of the HILDA data. He also produces the Australian component of the World Top Incomes Database.
Roger is a member of the ABS Labour Statistics Advisory Group, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Research Panel, and the Department of Social Services ‘Building a New Life in Australia’ Survey Technical Reference Group.

Research Interests

Distributions and determinants of income and wealth; poverty, socio-economic disadvantage and welfare reliance; labour market dynamics; panel data; program evaluation.

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Google Scholar Page

Personal Web Page

Selected Journal Articles

• Fok, Yin King, Rosanna Scutella and Roger Wilkins (forthcoming, 2015) ‘The low-pay no-pay cycle in Australia: Are There Systematic Differences across Demographic Groups?’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. DOI: 10.1111/obes.12084.
• Burkhauser, Richard, Markus Hahn and Roger Wilkins (forthcoming, 2015) ‘Measuring Top Incomes Using Tax Record Data: A Cautionary Tale from Australia’, Journal of Economic Inequality.
• Lillard, Dean, Richard Burkhauser, Markus Hahn and Roger Wilkins (forthcoming, 2015) ‘Does Early-Life Income Inequality Predict Self-Reported Health In Later Life? Evidence From the United States’, Social Science and Medicine. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.026.
• Watson, Nicole and Roger Wilkins (forthcoming, 2015) ‘Design Matters: The Impact of CAPI on Interview Length’, Field Methods. DOI: 10.1177/1525822X15584538.
• Wilkins, Roger (2015) ‘Measuring Income Inequality in Australia’, Australian Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 1.
• Wilkins, Roger (2014) ‘Evaluating the Evidence on Income Inequality in Australia in the 2000s’, Economic Record, vol. 90, no. 288, pp. 63–89.
• Wilkins, Roger and Mark Wooden (2014) ‘Two Decades of Change: The Australian Labour Market since 1993, Australian Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 4.
• Burkhauser, Richard V., Mary C. Daly, Duncan McVicar and Roger Wilkins, (2014), ‘Disability Benefit Growth and Disability Reform in the U.S.: Lessons from Other OECD Nations’ IZA Journal of Labor Policy, vol. 3, no. 4, doi: 10.1186/2193-9004-3-4.
• Scutella, Rosanna, Roger Wilkins and Weiping Kostenko, (2013), ‘Intensity and Persistence of Individuals’ Social Exclusion in Australia,’ Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 279–298.
• Borland, Jeff, Yi-Ping Tseng and Roger Wilkins, (2013) ‘Does Coordination of Welfare Services’ Delivery make a Difference for Extremely Disadvantaged Jobseekers? Evidence from the ‘YP4’ Trial’, Economic Record, vol. 89, no. 287, pp. 469–489.
• McVicar, Duncan and Roger Wilkins, (2013) ‘Explaining Growth in the Number of Recipients of the Disability Support Pension in Australia’, Australian Economic Review, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 345–356.
• Wilkins, Roger (2013) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 8: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 10 of the HILDA Survey. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Hahn, Markus and Roger Wilkins (2013) ‘Perceived Job Discrimination in Australia: Its Correlates and Consequences’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 43–64.
• Wilkins, Roger and Mark Wooden (2013) ‘Gender Differences in Involuntary Job Loss: Why are Men More Likely to Lose their Jobs?’ Industrial Relations, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 582–608.
• Fok, Yin King, Sung-Hee Jeon and Roger Wilkins (2013) ‘Does Part-Time Employment Help or Hinder Australian Single Mothers’ Movements into Full-Time Employment?’ Oxford Economic Papers, vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 523–547.
• Wilkins, Roger and Andrew Leigh (2012) ‘Effects of Temporary In-Work Benefits for Welfare Recipients: Examination of the Australian Working Credit Program’, Fiscal Studies, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 335–369.
• Wilkins, Roger and Mark Wooden (2011) ‘Economic Approaches to Studying Underemployment’ in Feldman, D. and Maynard, D. (eds), Underemployment: Psychological, Economic, and Social Challenges, Springer, New York.
• Black, David, Yi-Ping Tseng and Roger Wilkins (2011) ‘Do Changes in Demographic Characteristics Explain Declining Male Employment Rates? Examination of the Australian Case using a Propensity Score Re-Weighting Decomposition Approach’, Applied Economics, vol. 43, no. 28, pp. 4,215–4,226.
• Scutella, Rosanna and Roger Wilkins (2010) ‘Measuring Social Exclusion in Australia: Assessing Existing Data Sources’, Australian Economic Review, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 449–463.
• Coelli, Michael and Roger Wilkins (2009) ‘Credential Changes and Education Earnings Premia in Australia’, Economic Record, vol. 85, no. 270, pp. 239–259.
• Cardak, Buly and Roger Wilkins (2009) ‘The Determinants of Household Risky Asset Holdings: Australian Evidence on Background Risk and Other Factors’, Journal of Banking and Finance, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 850–860.
• Coelli, Michael and Roger Wilkins (2008) ‘Are Skill Shortages a Constraint on Increasing Employment in Australia?’ Australian Economic Review, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 310–322.
• Tseng, Yi-Ping, Ha Vu and Roger Wilkins (2008) ‘Dynamic Properties of Income Support Receipt in Australia’, Australian Economic Review, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 32–55.
• Wooden, Mark, Roger Wilkins and Seamus McGuinness (2007) ‘Minimum Wages and the ‘Working Poor’’ Economic Papers, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 295–307.
• Wilkins, Roger (2007) ‘The Changing Socio-Demographic Composition of Poverty in Australia: 1982 to 2004’,Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 481–501.
• Cai, Lixin, Ha Vu and Roger Wilkins (2007) ‘Disability Support Pension Recipients: Who Gets Off (and Stays Off) Payments?’ Australian Economic Review, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 37–61.
• Wilkins, Roger (2007) ‘The Consequences of Underemployment for the Underemployed’, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 247–276.
• Wilkins, Roger (2004) ‘The Effects of Disability on Labour Force Status in Australia’, Australian Economic Review, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 359–382.
• Johnson, David and Roger Wilkins (2004) ‘The Effects of Changes in Family Composition and Employment Patterns on the Distribution of Income in Australia: 1982 to 1997-8’, Economic Record, vol. 80, no. 249, pp. 219–238.
• Wilkins, Roger (2003) ‘Immigrant Earnings Adjustment: The Impact of Age at Migration’, Australian Economic Papers, vol. 43, no.3, pp. 292–315.
• Tseng, Yi-Ping and Roger Wilkins (2003) ‘Reliance on Income Support in Australia: Prevalence and Persistence’, Economic Record, vol. 79, no. 245, pp. 196–217.
• Borland, Jeff and Roger Wilkins (1996) ‘Earnings Inequality in Australia’, Economic Record, vol. 72, no. 216, pp. 7–23.

Selected HILDA Survey Publications

• Wilkins, Roger (2015) The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey: Selected Findings from Waves 1 to 12. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Wilkins, Roger (2014) ‘Derived Income Variables in the HILDA Survey Data: The HILDA Survey ‘Income Model’’, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, HILDA Project Technical Paper No. 1/14.
• Wilkins, Roger (2014) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 9: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 11 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Wilkins, Roger (2013) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 8: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 10 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Wilkins, Roger and Diana Warren (2012) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 7: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 9 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Kecmanovic, Milica and Roger Wilkins (2011) ‘Accounting for Salary Sacrificed Components of Wage and Salary Income’, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, HILDA Discussion Paper No. 3/11.
• Watson, Nicole and Roger Wilkins (2011) ‘Experimental Change from Paper-Based Interviewing to Computer-Assisted Interviewing in the HILDA Survey’, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, HILDA Discussion Paper No. 2/11.
• Wilkins, Roger and Mark Wooden (2011) ‘Measuring Minimum Award Wage Reliance in Australia: The HILDA Survey Experience,’ Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, Working Paper No. 11/2011.
• Wilkins, Roger, Diana Warren, Markus Hahn and Brendan Houng (2011) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 6: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 8 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Wilkins, Roger and Claire Sun (2010) ‘Assessing the Quality of the Expenditure Data Collected in the Self-Completion Questionnaire’, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, HILDA Discussion Paper No. 1/10.
• Wilkins, Roger, Diana Warren, Markus Hahn and Brendan Houng (2010) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 5: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 7 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
• Wilkins, Roger, Diana Warren and Markus Hahn (2009) Families, Incomes and Jobs, Volume 4: A Statistical Report on Waves 1 to 6 of the HILDA Survey. Report commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.