Malcolm Abbott is an economist by profession, and the main fields of work in which he has been engaged have been the development of the resources sector, energy markets (natural gas and electricity) and the manner in which pricing and access to network infrastructure are regulated by government agencies. Related to this work have been the projects he has undertaken on the steel industry, electricity and gas demand forecasting, telecommunications investment, and water management. In addition, he has also worked in other areas of government policy, including rail, seaports, airports, dairy industry deregulation, stevedoring, and education. He has published over 100 refereed journal articles and twelve books and has a PhD from the University of Melbourne.