Dr Carolyn Tran

Lecturer - UNE Business School

Carolyn Tran

Biography

Carolyn Tran is a Lecturer in Economics, specialising in the areas of Applied Economics, Education Economics, Local Government and Development Economics. Her research activities have focused on efficiency analysis of Education, Public Policy Analysis, and Applied Econometrics. She has published in referred international journals. She was formerly Senior Research Officer, University of Sydney; Discipline Leader in Business, MBA Program Manager, Director of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching at International College of Management, Sydney (2018-2020), Educational Consultant for a World Bank project (2015), and Vice Rector of a Vietnamese College (2005-2013).

Qualifications

BABusMgmt (UEH, Vietnam), MADevEc (ISS, Netherlands), PhD (UNE)

Teaching Areas

Teaching areas and award

Undergraduate Level

  • Business Statistics
  • Introduction to Business Analytics
  • Introductory Economics

Post-graduate Level

  • Analytics for Business Research
  • Microeconomic Policy Evaluation

HDR supervision topic areas

  • Quantitative economics and efficiency and productivity analysis in education, local government, human resources, manufacturing and services
  • Development economics and evaluation of economics efficiency of regional development, provincial public administrative index and competitiveness capacity.

Primary Research Area/s

Applied Economics; Business Analytics; Local Government; Education Economics; Development Economics

Research Interests

Efficiency and productivity analysis; education economics, development economics; applied econometrics; public policy analysis; competitiveness capacity, public administration and socio-economics.

Research Supervision Experience

I have been supervising MBA and PhD students in Applied Economics, Development Economics, Local Government and other service sectors

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Tran, C-D.T.T. & Tran, J.N.N.B. (Forthcoming, 2024). Efficiency of Government Financial assistance–Empirical evidence in Australian public universities. International Journal of Education Economics and Development (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2023). Technological gaps in the performance of Victoria local government: An application of meta-frontier network data envelopment analysis approach. Book Chapter, Handbook on Data Envelopment in Business, Finance, and Sustainability.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Dollery, B. and Yarram, S. R (2023). The Influence of Administrative Intensity on Efficiency: An Empirical Analysis of Australian Universities. Economic Papers. doi: 10.1111/1759-3441.12387.
  • Temoso, O., Tran, C-D.T.T. and Myeki, L. (2023). Network DEA efficiency of South African higher education: Evidence from the analysis of teaching and research at the university level. Journal of Further and Higher Education (A*). https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2023.2209799
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Le, A., Roper, A. Murray, G, James, B. & Allen, V. (2023). A regional level of analysis of efficiency in Australian accommodation industry. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration (A). https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2021.2006850
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2023). Municipal Performance in a Network Structure of Financial Operations and Service Provision in New South Wales Local Government System. Public Finance & Management (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2022). Administrative scale economies in public organisations: Evidence from Australian public universities. Studies in Higher Education (A). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2022.2061449.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2022). An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Administrative Intensity on the Operational Efficiency of the Victorian Local Government System. Local Government Studies (A). https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2021.2023015
  • Yarram, S. R., Tran, C-D. T.T. and Dollery, B. (2022, in print). Administrative Intensity in Local Government: Do Scale Economies Exist in New South Wales Local Government? Policy & Politics (A). https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12467
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2022). Does persistent cost inefficiency exist? A municipal level analysis of expenditure in Victorian local government. Singapore Economic Review (B). https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590822500084
  • Tran, C-T.T.D. and Dollery, B. (2022). Administrative Intensity and Financial Sustainability: An Empirical Analysis of the Victorian Local Government System. Policy & Politics (A). https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12466
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Le, A.T-A, Tran, T.D., Roper, A., Murry, G., James, B., Allen, V., and Petrov, L. (2021). An empirical analysis of efficiency in accommodation industry in Australian tourism regions. International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration (forthcoming) (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T.and Dollery, B. (2021) What Factors Generate Municipal Inefficiency? An Empirical Investigation of the Determinants of Input Excess in South Australian Local Government. Public Performance and Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2021.1873153 (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2021, forthcoming). Does financial sustainability affect local resident satisfaction? The case of the Victorian local government system? Public Money and Management (A).
  • Tran, C. T. T. D. (2021). Efficiency of the teaching-industry linkage in the Australian vocational education and training. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 13(1), 1-28. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40461-021-00116-0(A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2021, forthcoming). An Empirical Analysis of Administrative Scale Economies in Victorian Local Government. Public Quarterly Management (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Pérez López, G and Dollery, B. (2021), Households versus Population: Investigating Expenditure Dispersion in South Australian Local Government. Australian Journal of Regional Studies (B).
  • Fellows, C., Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. E (2021, in print). Is Bigger More Efficient? An Empirical Analysis of Scale Economies in Administration in South Australian Local Government, Economic Papers (B).
  • Agasisti, T., Yang, G.L, Song, Y-Y, & Tran, C-D.T.T. (2021, forthcoming). Evaluating the efficiency of world-class universities in China and Europe: An international comparison. Scientometrics (A).
  • Pérez López, G., Tran, C-D.T.T., Dollery, B. (2021, forthcoming) Council Cooperation Cost Efficient? An Empirical Analysis of Waste Collection in Spanish Local Government, 2009 to 2015. Public Money and Management (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T.,and Dollery, B. (2020, forthcoming). All in the mind: Does strong financial performance in local government generate greater citizen satisfaction? American Accounting Review (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2020, forthcoming). Does Municipal Efficiency Affect Citizen Satisfaction? An Empirical Analysis of Efficiency and Effectiveness in Victorian Local Government. Public Administration Quarterly (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Battese, G. & Villano, R. (2020, forthcoming). Administrative capacity assessment in higher education: The case of universities in Vietnam. International Journal of Educational Development (A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. (2020). Cost efficiency – one size fits all? A university-level analysis of economies of scale and scope in Vietnamese higher education. Asia Pacific Journal of Education https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1735996(A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T . (2020). Productivity growth of private universities in Vietnam: Revisiting the 2005 Higher Education Reform Agenda. International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 11(3), 292-313 (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. & Dollery, B. (2020, forthcoming). Examining efficiency differentials by council type in South Australian local government: An environmentally adjusted meta-frontier DEA approach. Public Administration Quarterly (A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2020). An Empirical Analysis of Municipal Efficiency and Local Resident Satisfaction by Council Type in Victorian Local Government. Australian Journal of Public Administration DOI: 10.1111/1467-8500.12421 (A)
  • Yarram, S. R., Dollery, B., and Tran, C-D. T.T. (2020, forthcoming). An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Rate Capping on Victorian Local Government Expenditure. Policy & Politics (A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. and Dollery, B. (2019) Council type and the determinants of municipal expenditure: A semiparametric analysis of South Australian local government. Australian Journal of Public Administration https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12399(A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., & Villano, R.A. (2019). Environmentally-adjusted efficiencies of Vietnamese higher education institutions: A bootstrap multi-stage DEA method. International Journal of Operational Research, 36 (3), 413-439 (B)
  • Wallace, A., Dollery, B., and Tran, C-DTT. (2019). Amalgamation in Action: Participant Perspectives on the Armidale Regional Council Merger Process. Australian Journal of Social Issues. DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.88 (B)
  • Villano, R.A. & Tran, C-D.T.T. (2019). Technical efficiency heterogeneity of tertiary institutions in Viet Nam: A meta-frontier directional technology approach. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 25(6), 1058-1080 (A)
  • Villano, R.A., & Tran, C-D.T.T. (2019). A survey on technical efficiency in higher education: A meta-fractional regression analysis. Pacific Economic Review, 1-26, DOI: 10.1111/1468-0106.12310(B)
  • Villano, R.A., Macandog, D.M, Acosta, L., Tran, C-D.T.T., Eugenio, E.A., Paula M Macandog, P.M. (2019). Measuring disaster resilience in the Philippines: Evidence using network data envelopment analysis. Climate and Development (A). https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2019.1599317 (A)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Kortt, M., & Dollery, B. (2019). Population size or population density? An empirical examination of scale economies in South Australian local government, 2015/16. Local Government Studies, 45(5), 632–653 (A)
  • Villano, R. A., & Tran, C. D. T.T. (2018). Performance of private higher education institutions in Vietnam: evidence using DEA-based bootstrap directional distance approach with quasi-fixed inputs. Applied Economics, 50(55), 5966-5978. (A)
  • Tran, C. D.T.T., & Villano, R. A. (2018). Measuring efficiency of Vietnamese public colleges: An application of the DEA based dynamic network approach. International Transactions in Operational Research, 25(2), 683-70 (A).
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., & Villano, R.A. (2018). Financial efficiencies of Vietnamese public universities: A second-stage dynamic network data envelopment analysis approach. The Singapore Economic Review. (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T, Dollery, B. and Pérez López, G., (2018) An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Per Capita Municipal Expenditure in South Australian Local Government. Public Finance & Management, 8(4), (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. (2018). Determinants of academic efficiencies towards innovation: The case of Vietnamese colleges. International Journal of Education and Practice. 1(1), 24-35.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. (2018). The Reform Process of Higher Education in Vietnam: Performance Efficiency and Transparent Accountability. Review of Educational Theory, 1(4), 121-133.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Crawford, M. & Villano, R.A. (2017). Efficiency-based ranking: A case of Vietnamese public universities. Asia-African Journal of Economics and Econometrics, 17(2),197 – 215 (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. & Villano, R.A. (2017) Input rigidities and performance of Vietnamese universities. Asian Economic Journal, 31(3), 253-273 (B)
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. & Villano, R.A. (2017). An empirical analysis of the academic performance: The case of Vietnamese higher education institutions. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 41(4), 530-544 (B)
  • Tran, D.T.T. (2001). Some aspects of environmental management in enterprises. Economic Development Review, HCM City Economics University, 126: 22-23
  • Tran, D.T. T. (2001) Impacts of pesticide use on farmer health in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: A medical and economic assessment. Economic Development Review, HCM City Economics University, 81: 22–24
  • Nguyen, H.D. & Tran, D.T.T. (1999) Economics and health consequences of pesticide use in paddy production in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. EEPSEA Research Report Series. Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia.
  • Tran, D.T.T. (1999). Pesticides and farmer health: The case of rice production in the Mekong Delta. The 7th Conference on Science and Technology, Vietnam National University, University of Technology

Conference Papers

  • Le, A-T.A, Tran, C-D.T.T., Murry, G., James, B., Allen, V., & Roper, A. (2020). The influence of exogenous variables on the efficiency of Australian accommodation industry: A regional level of analysis using the second-stage DEA fractional regression approach. Presented at the 30th CAUTHE 2020 on 10-13 February 2020 at Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Murry, G., Tran, C-D.T.T., James, B., Allen, V., Le, A-T.A, & Roper, A. (2020). Estimating efficiency of Australian accommodation industry: A regional level of analysis using output-orientated DEA approach. Presented at the 30th CAUTHE 2020 on 10-13 February 2020 at Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T. & Dollery, B. (2019). Examining efficiency differentials by council type in South Australian local government: An environmentally adjusted meta-frontier DEA approach. Presented at the 68th Political Studies Association Annual International Conference, Nottingham, the United Kingdom, 15-17 April.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Crawford, M. & Villano, R.A. (2016). Reform process and the productive efficiency of Vietnamese higher education: A case study of public universities, presented in Vietnam Forum 2016 “Vietnam: Thirty years of reform and beyond”, Invited paper, IDEAS in Singapore, 7-8 April 2016.
  • Villano, R.A. & Tran, C-D.T.T. (2015). Measuring inefficiency in Vietnamese private universities: An application of bootstrap directional distance approach. The 13th International Conference on Data Envelopment Analysis, Braunschweig, Germany, 24–28 August 2015.
  • Tran, C-D.T.T., Villano, R. & Battese, G. (2014). Performance of Vietnamese higher education institutions in 2011/2012: Using data envelopment analysis approach. The 12th International Conference on Data Envelopment Analysis, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14–18 April, 2014.

Project reports

  • Tran, C-D.T.T., & Crawford, M. (2015). Vietnamese Higher Education: Characteristics and Challenges. The project of Vietnam 2035. The World Bank.
  • Tran, D.T.T. (2010). Evaluating companies' satisfaction on Sonadezi College's students as in-job trainees. College Project, Sonadezi College of Technology and Management (SCTM).
  • Tran, D.T.T., & Luu, P.D. (2009). Project of upgrading Sonadezi College to Sonadezi University. College Project, SCTM.
  • Tran, D.T.T., & Chu, T.T. (2005). Project of establishing Sonadezi College of Technology and Management. Corporate Project, 2979/QĐ-BGD&ĐT-TCCB, 1/06/2005, Ministry of Education and Training.

Professional services

  • Acted as reviewer for Singapore Economic Review; Education Economics; International Food and Agribusiness Management Review; World Bank Report; Asian Economics Journal;
  • Acted as examiner of Honours, Masters and PhD theses.

Memberships

  • East Asian Economic Association
  • Economic Society of Australia
  • International Data Envelopment Analysis Society

Consultancy Interests

  • Efficiency and performance analysis of education, public government, human resources, manufacturing and service sectors.
  • Effectiveness assessment of development projects and socio-economic studies.