UNE Business School PhD student, Subashini Perera, recently had the opportunity to present one of her papers at the 31st PhD Conference in Economics and Business at UNSW Sydney from 31st October – 2nd November. The paper, titled ‘Trade delays constitute a conclusive barrier to economic development: Should South Asia be motivated accordingly?’ is currently under review by A-ranked journal World Economy, and is co-authored by two UNE Business School academic staff; Professor Mahinda Siriwardana and Dr Stuart Mounter.

“I was very lucky to be selected to represent UNE and present one of my papers,” says Subashini.

Subashini says her experience presenting at the 31st Phd Conference in Economics and Business was “the best and most effective” conference experience during her studies with UNE Business School.

“The conference organisers assigned me a discussant from UWA and he reviewed my paper before the conference. After my presentation, the discussant presented his feedback, followed by questions and suggestions from the audience, which was very comprehensive.”

Presenting at the conference in Sydney was an opportunity for Subashini to network and collaborate with researchers from other universities.

“Every day there was a social gathering… I met one of my fellow students at UNSW following similar research but with different models. We have already discussed to combine our expertise and produce a paper in the future.”

During her time putting together her PhD thesis at UNE, Subashini also had the opportunity to attend two other conferences; a Global Trade Analysis conference at Perdue University, USA and the Australian Economic Conference. These opportunities enriched Subashini’s learning and research experience with both national and international contexts.

Subashini’s PhD thesis, ‘Impacts of Trade Facilitation in South Asian Economies’, has now been submitted for examination, with Subashini eagerly waiting for her results. 

“My next step is to write a research project in 2019 to apply for a research grant in 2020, where my focus is to develop a global model to address the global trade-induced environmental issue.”

We look forward to following Subashini’s research career and seeing where she goes next.