August 30th 2007

Scholarships and special funds to assist the disadvantaged at higher levels of education and training are common in the west. But is this money wasted? Research is showing that such interventions come too late in shaping an individual's potential.

Economists are now turning their gaze on investment in young children. This public lecture throws new light on the importance of high quality early child care and suggests most of our potential is shaped well before age 14. With thousands of women returning to work after childbirth and placing their kids in day care, interest is growing in whether this really is good for kids and how it will impact intellectual potential.

Mike Keane
Professor Mike Keane is a leading expert on human capital investment and the economics of education. He has held professorial roles at the universities of Minnesota, New York and Yale and is now tenured at UTS for five years as a Federation Fellow. Professor Keane has published more than 70 papers in top business and economics journals and is best known for his breakthrough work in modeling the processes by which humans make choices as consumers. His approach has been widely applied in business and marketing.

Resources

• flyer (PDF 52k)
• presentation slides (PDF 136k)
• audio recording (MP3 29.8 MB)

UTSPEAKS: is a free public lecture series presented by UTS experts discussing a range of important issues confronting contemporary Australia