Droughts, hurricanes and other environmental shocks punctuate the lives of poor and vulnerable populations in many parts of the world. The direct impacts can be horrific, but what are the longer-term effects of such shocks on households and their livelihoods? Under what circumstances, and for...

There are significant differences in the way water rights are defined, allocated and administered in Australia and overseas. This paper includes comparisons of the arrangements for managing water rights against accepted best practice principles for South Au stralia, Queensland, NSW, Victoria...

The black market exchange rate premium is widely used in the empirical literature as an indicator of trade and exchange rate distortions. This paper presents a simple test of the null hypothesis that the black market exchange rate is a reliable indicator of the equilibirum exchange rate. The...

Purchasing power parity (PPP) hypothesis has attracted a lot of attention from academics and policy-makers particularly, during the recent float. Most previous studies used data from the developed world. This study examines the validity of the PPP hypothesis using data during the recent float...

Time series data for Sri Lanka span periods of pervasive trade and exchange restrictions along with periods of liberalized trade. This paper implements a structural econometric model of aggregate imports which incorporates the implications of the shifts in the policy regime. The results...

This study tests weak and semi-strong form efficiency of the foreign exchange market in Sri Lanka using six bilateral foreign exchange rates during the recent float. Weak-form efficiency is examined using unit root tests while semi-strong form efficiency is tested using co- integration and...

In a presentation in November 2002 to the Annual Conference of the National Association for Gambling Studies in Melbourne, Productivity Commission Chairman Gary Banks provided an update on key developments in Australia’s gambling industries, three years after publication of the Commission’s...

In a presentation in November 2002 to the Annual Conference of the National Association for Gambling Studies in Melbourne, Productivity Commission Chairman Gary Banks provided an update on key developments in Australia’s gambling industries, three years after publication of the Commission’s...

In a presentation in November 2002 to the Annual Conference of the National Association for Gambling Studies in Melbourne, Productivity Commission Chairman Gary Banks provided an update on key developments in Australia’s gambling industries, three years after publication of the Commission’s...

We examine the relationship between casinos and crime using county-level data for the US between 1977 and 1996. Casinos were non-existent outside Nevada before 1978, and expanded to many other states during our sample period. Most factors that reduce crime occur before or shortly after a casino...