Thirty Years of Economics: UWA and the WA Branch of the Economic Society from 1963 to 1992‪.‬

Abstract: This paper overviews the evolution of economics at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in the thirty years to 1992, with attention given to the leadership of professorial staff, fragmentation in the vision for the economics program and the role of research and research training in that program. Notwithstanding this fragmentation, the primary thesis of the study is that the department successfully re-balanced its program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The paper also considers the Western Australian (WA) Branch of the Economic Society of Australia, with attention given to the success of the Shann Memorial Lecture, which is undertaken in partnership with UWA, and the progressive reduction in the participation of senior UWA economists in the administration of the Society's WA Branch. 1 Introduction