Professor Isabella Dobrescu
- Ph.D. (Economics) with Honors, University of Padua, September 2009
- M.Sc. (Economic Mathematical Modeling) Summa cum Laude, West University of Timisoara, August 2005
- B.A. (Economics) Nottingham Trent University, July 2003
- B.A. (Finance) Summa cum Laude, West University of Timisoara, June 2003
Isabella's interests are in labour, public finance, health and applied econometrics. She has primarily focused her structural work on topics related to consumption and saving dynamics, as well as studying risk-taking and cognition via nonparametric partial identification methods. More recently, she combines theory, empirical analysis and randomised controlled trials to help design interventions that aim to improve educational outcomes using technology.
Isabella is also the Deputy Head of the School of Economics, co-chair of the STEP UP initiative in Education, a CEPAR Associate Investigator, and an editor of the Journal of Pension Economics & Finance (JPEF).
For up-to-date information on research and publications, visit Isabella's website.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2023-24
- STEP UP: Playconomics Financial Literacy High School Outreach” Program [with Motta] Total funding: AU$650,000
2022
- UNSW School of Economics and UNSW Business School, “STEP UP: Playconomics Financial Literacy High School Outreach” Program [with Motta] Total funding: AU$80,000
- UNSW Business School Research Impact Award Total funding: AU$2,000
2021
- UNSW Business School Strategy Knowledge Hub, “Economics of Education” [with Holden, Piccoli, Motta, Muir, Sahlberg, Walker] Total funding: AU$770,000
- Romanian Ministry of Research & Innovation, “Drivers of depositors’ behaviour: Socio-economic drivers, regulatory changes and the impact of crisis events” PN-III-P4-ID-PCE- 2020-0929 [with Andries, Tofan, Nistor, Moldovan] Total funding: AU$391,246 (RON1,198,032)
2020
- ARC Linkage, “Better communication to solve the under-saving, under-spending puzzle” [with Bateman, Thorp, Newell] Total funding: AU$392,445
- UNSW President’s Award for Collaboration [with Motta] Total funding: AU$5,000
2019
- UNSW Business School, “Financial Wellbeing in Retirement: Evaluating Cbus’ Retirement Income Estimate (RIE) campaigns” [with Bateman, Newell, Thorp] Total funding: AU$40,000
- UNSW Business School Breakthrough / PVC-E / CEPAR, “Good Decisions in Education: The Smart Tech & Education Program (STEP UP)” [with Motta, Holden, King] Total funding: AU$105,000
- UNSW Business School Strategy 2020 Network, “Big Data Modelling for Policy Evaluation” [with Doiron, Fiebig, Kohn, Panchenko] Total funding: AU$25,000
2018
- UNSW Scientia Academy, “What works in Education: A series of experiments” [with Motta] Total funding: AU$15,000
- UNSW Business School Strategy 2020 Network, “Big Data Modelling for Policy Evaluation” [with Doiron, Fiebig, Kohn, Panchenko] Total funding: AU$25,000
2017
- UNSW Business School Strategy 2020 Network, “Big Data Modelling for Policy Evaluation” [with Doiron, Fiebig, Kohn, Panchenko] Total funding: AU$25,000
- UNSW School of Economics ARC Project Booster, “Experiential Economics: A new paradigm for experiments” [with Motta] Total funding: AU$5,000
2016
- Australian Government OLT Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning” [with Motta] Total funding: AU$10,000
- ARC Centre of Excellence Scheme, “Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research – CEPAR II” [Associate Investigator] Total funding: AU$27.2MIL
- UNSW Business School Silver Star Award, “Health, wealth, care and social networks in old age” [with Motta] Total funding: AU$20,000
- UNSW Business School Strategy 2020 Network, “Big Data Modelling for Policy Evaluation” [with Doiron, Fiebig, Kohn, Panchenko] Total funding: AU$25,000
2015
- ARC Linkage, “Super Financial Security: Improving Flexibility, Trust and Communication” [with Ortmann, Bateman, Thorp, Newell] Total funding: AU$355,000
- UNSW Business School Strategy 2020 Network, “Big Data Modelling for Policy Evaluation” [with Doiron, Fiebig, Kohn, Panchenko] Total funding: AU$25,000
- CEPAR, “Wealth decumulation in old age”. Total funding: AU$15,000
- UNSW BizLab, “Lessons from Experiential Economics” [with Motta] Total funding: AU$10,000
2014
- CEPAR, “Bequest motives in a life-cycle model with intergenerational interactions”. Total funding: AU$7,000
2013
- CEPAR, “The Impact of Social Activities on Cognitive Ageing: Evidence from 11 European Countries”. Total funding: AU$7,000
2012
- UNSW Business School UNSW, Learning and Teaching Grant [with Motta]. Total funding: AU$36,000
- SG UNSW, “Early life conditions and financial risk-taking in older age”. Total funding: AU$6,000
2011
- ARC Linkage, “Reconnecting and Engaging Superannuation Fund Members” [with Ortmann, Bateman, Thorp, Newell]. Total funding: AU$297,720
- ITIP UNSW, “Simulated Economy Serious Games” [with Motta]. Total funding: AU$73,700
- ASBRG UNSW, “Voting on alternative health care reforms: How do the elderly decide?” Total funding: AU$22,000
2010
- ASBRG UNSW, “Staying home or dining out? Social interactions and old-age consumption profiles”. Total funding: AU$21,000
2021
- UNSW Business School Research Impact Award
2019
- UNSW President’s Award for Building Collaborations
2017
- UNSW Scientia Education Fellowship
- Wharton Business School Social Sciences Gold Medal Reimagine Education International Awards
2016
- Australian Government Office of Learning & Teaching Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
- UNSW Business School John Prescott Outstanding Innovation Award
2015
- UNSW Business School Silver Star Award for Research
2014
- UNSW Business School Non-professorial Research Achievement Award
2013
- UNSW Business School 2013 Outstanding Technology-Enabled Teaching Innovation Award
- University of New South Wales 2013 Innovation Award (top 3 finalist)
- University of New South Wales Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence in the Use of Learning & Teaching Technologies
- University of New South Wales Heinz Harant Award for Teaching Innovation
2012
- ARC Early Career Research Fellowship
Selected reads:
Cultural context in standardized tests, with Holden, Motta, Piccoli, Roberts and Walker
What Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews, with Motta and Luca
- The Sydney Morning Herald (read), The Guardian (read), NBC News (read), TechCrunch (read), Digital Trends (read), BusinessThink@UNSW (read)
Why Aren't Developed Countries Saving? with Motta and Kotlikoff
As Easy as Pie: How Retirement Savers Use Prescribed Investment Disclosures, with Bateman, Newell, Ortmann and Thorp
Just Interested or Getting Involved? An Analysis of Superannuation Attitudes and Actions, with Bateman, Deetlefs, Newell, Ortmann and Thorp
- Investment Magazine on (read)
Retirement Savings: A Tale of Decisions and Defaults, with Fan, Bateman, Newell, Ortmann and Thorp
- BusinessThink@UNSW (read)
Flicking the switch: Simplifying disclosure to improve retirement plan choices, with Bateman, Newell, Ortmann and Thorp
- The Conversation (read)
Selected reads on Playconomics:
My Research Supervision
Miguel Lorca Espinoza (UNSW)
Huyen Hoang (UNSW)
Trang Le (UNSW)
Victoria Hoang (University of Sydney)
My Teaching