klaus.ackermann@monash.edu
Klaus Ackermann is an Associate Professor in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His research interests are in the areas of Artifical Intelligence, Causal Inference, Applied Econometrics, and Alternative Data.
He holds a PhD in Economics from Monash University and BSc and MSc in Business Informatics with major in Economics from the Technical University of Vienna. He pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Data Science and Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Klaus is a founding member of Monash SoDa Labs, an empirical research laboratory associated with Monash University’s Department of Economics and Department of Econometrics in the Monash Business School. SoDa Labs applies new tools from data science, machine learning, and beyond to answer social science questions using alternative and big data.
Klaus is also the co-founder and one of the directors of KASPR Datahaus Pty. Ltd. and co-founder of the IP Observatory.
We propose an estimation procedure for estimating distributional treatment effects in a synthetic control style setting. Rather than estimating the average effect only, we estimate the full distributional treatment effect for causal inference in the distributional tails.
We propose a new causal inference method similar to synthetic control methods. Instead of estimating a weight matrix, we use time-series properties and forecast the average treatment effect.
Lin, M., Churchill, S. A., & Ackermann, K. (2024). The fattening speed: Understanding the impact of internet speed on obesity, and the mediating role of sedentary behaviour. Economics & Human Biology, 101439. [Published Version]
We examine the effect of high-speed internet access on obesity, finding that faster internet increases BMI and the probability of obesity, with sedentary behaviour and inactivity serving as mediating mechanisms, particularly among young adults and males.
Ackermann, K., Awaworyi Churchill, S., & Munyanyi, M. E. (2024). Internet and Gambling: Insights from Australia’s NBN Rollout. Journal of Gambling Studies, 1-25. [Published Version]
Our analysis of Australia's National Broadband Network rollout reveals that while high-speed internet is linked to increased online gambling, it is also associated with a significant decline in venue-based gambling, suggesting that faster internet access may reduce overall gambling behaviour through changes in gambling modalities
We examine the relationship between ethnic inequality, conflict, and voter turnout in Africa, finding that higher ethnic inequality increases conflict, which in turn reduces voter turnout, with this effect being more pronounced in highly populated areas.
We examine the effects of high-speed internet access on energy poverty in Australia. We find that the expansion of NBN access increases the probability of energy poverty, primarily driven by the decline in social capital resulting from greater internet access.
This is a tutorial-style paper on how to choose the evaluation metrics for your forecasting problem. It also emphasises the point of evaluating economic and financial time series.
We examine the effects of high-speed internet access on cognitive functioning in Australia, finding that it causes a decline in crystallised intelligence. The effects are mediated by social capital and moderated by age and gender.
We examine the effects of mobile phone coverage on violent conflicts in Africa. We find that mobile phone expansion increases non-state-based conflict, but the effect is mostly driven by the economic inequality that arises from the economic growth due to mobile coverage.
We present a method to select live human unstained sperm cells ready for IVF in a clinical setting using an AI-based System.
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) requires the manual selection of a sperm cell. In this work we present a machine learning based system to aid the selection process.
We present a framework how to deploy machine learning model as a system to be integrated in the operational workflow in public and private institutions.
We investigate how machine learning can be use to help with stress interventions of police officers compared to a rule based strike system.
We build a model for risk assessment for low-income households at risk of abandoning their mortgage and, consequently, their home.
We present a method for repurposing a large data set on internet measurements to create insights regarding human behaviour.
Klaus Ackermann was part of this documentary in August 2022 regards to world wide internet measurements. [IMDB]
ABC News (April 2020) - Coronavirus affecting internet speeds, as COVID-19 puts pressure on the network [ABC]
MIT Technology Review (January 2017) - The Trillion Internet Observations Showing How Global Sleep Patterns Are Changing [MIT Tech Review]
Links