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Research and innovation are widely agreed to be major driving forces behind long-term productivity and economic growth. However, the relationships have proven to be difficult to quantify. We make reference to the international literature and draw on recent research for Australia to advance our understanding of these relationships. Particular focus is on assessing the impact of publically financed R&D on productivity. The conclusions have implications for government innovation policies, providing insight into possible productivity gains from funding reallocations. Specifically, the findings suggest that government research agencies and higher education are areas in which investment leads to more potential productivity gains.

This paper examines two key dimensions of the impact of immigration for Australia and related policy aspects. One is sub-national and the other is national. They are, first, the regional location aspects of immigration and, second, the aggregate unemployment implications of immigration. These are chosen so as to focus on two important issues that condition public attitudes towards immigration. In relation to the first, there is a common positive view that channelling migration towards regional areas assists regional development and reduces pressure on metropolitan areas. The paper reviews regional concepts embodied in Australian immigration policy and the ways in which visa arrangements have implemented policies geared towards the regional dispersal of immigrants. Using official data, it discusses the demographic impacts of these policies and, in particular, considers the extent to which immigrants to regional Australia remain there over the longer term. In relation to unemployment, a common concern is that immigrants take jobs from local workers. The paper examines—using statistical regression methodology—the relationship between immigration and national aggregate unemployment in Australia. It evaluates the net consequences of immigration for both existing residents and new arrivals together. The paper concludes that, with good policy design in each case, regional location encouragement can be effective for immigrants and that immigrants need not take more jobs than they create. The analysis demonstrates that mixed-methods approaches to important social science issues can be productive, and helpful also for policy. Evidence, such as that presented in this paper, offers a powerful basis from which to counter negative public and political discourses surrounding immigration in contemporary Australia. ; This work was partly supported by the Australian Council of Learned Academies from the Australian Research Council Grant [LS120100001 "Securing Australia's Future: Project 1 – Australia's Comparative Advantage"].