Professor Mangan is Professor Emeritus of economics at the University of Queensland, founding Director of the Centre for Economic Policy Modelling, a principal of Synergies Economic Consultants and the Director of the Economics and Law Research Unit (ELRU). John has a wide area of research interests in economics and is a skilled economic modeller, particularly in Labour market and Industrial economics related issues. He was the inaugural Director of The Labour Market Research Unit within the Queensland Government which dealt with skills development in Queensland. He was an external consultant to the Queensland Jobs Council (1999-2003). He has written a number of papers and reports examining skill related areas