International Women's Day - After Hours Event

Please save the date for the upcoming International Women Days’ (IWD) event for WEN/ESA TAS: IWD WEN Event with Prof. Chuah at The Forest. See attached flyer.

Prof Chuah will present on recent work on Intra-Household Power, Behavioural Frictions and Public Policy Design: Evidence from Maternal Health in Timor-Leste

Why do utilisation gaps persist even when services are available and subsidised? Drawing on fieldwork and policy collaboration in Timor-Leste, this talk examines maternal health as a case study in intra-household decision-making and behavioural frictions within public systems. It argues that supply-side interventions often under-specify household bargaining, trust, and the transaction costs embedded in real-world service use. Bringing a behavioural economics lens to public policy design, the discussion considers how policy can be structured around socially embedded decision environments rather than abstract models of choice.

When: Tuesday 10th March from 5:30pm

Where: "The Branch", East Wing, Main ground-floor space, The Forest, 83A Melville St, Hobart.

The talk will be followed by drinks and nibbles and a short tour of The Forest UTAS for those interested.

About Professor Swee-Hoon Chuah:

Director of Tasmanian Behavioural Lab and Professor of Behavioural Economics, University of Tasmania, Australia.

Swee-Hoon is a behavioural and experimental economist whose work bridges academia, policy and practice to improve social and environmental outcomes. She is the founding Director of the Tasmanian Behavioural Lab and Professor of Behavioural Economics at the University of Tasmania. Her research applies behavioural insights to challenges in health, education, inclusion and sustainability - ranging from maternal health and cardiovascular screening to youth engagement and sustainable fisheries management.

Swee-Hoon has collaborated with partners including the Australian Government’s Behavioural Economics Team (BETA), the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, the Tasmanian Department of State Growth and the United Nations Population Fund in Timor-Leste. She serves on the Board of Brand Tasmania and the Academic Advisory Panel of BETA in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia.

Her work has been published in leading journals such as the Journal of Economic Behaviour & Organization, European Economic Review, Journal of Economic Psychology and Experimental Economics. She is also co-editor of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Behavioural and Experimental Economics (2025).