The study, dubbed the Fly into work; fly out to Bali project, will involve a team of researchers from Western Australian Edith Cowan University's newly created Centre for Innovative Practice investigating why some FIFO workers are choosing to go to Bali in between rosters rather than return to their home towns in Australia.

CIP co-leader and project head Professor Ross Dowling said FIFO workers were taking advantage of new flight schedules, Bali's lower living costs and reduced taxes.

"We want to get a deeper understanding of this new development, to learn why workers are choosing not to return to their families and friends but go offshore instead," Dowling said.

Dowling questioned whether workers were choosing the holiday destination over returning home because of the above reasons or if there was potentially more to it than that.

The CIP was awarded $50,000 from ECU's faculty of business and law to carry out the study.

Other key areas which will be subject to investigation include sustainability within the resources sector, skills shortages in the WA resources sector, job design and employee innovation and improvement in resource sector productivity.

CIP co-leader Professor Craig Standing said the centre's project came at a time when the mining sector was having a big impact on the state.

"The CIP will tackle critical problems that are challenging the resources sector and this fits perfectly with our centre's vision," Standing said.