As an empirical regularity for broad commodity groups, we show that price elasticities of demand are scattered around the value of minus one-half. We also show that this finding is not inconsistent with the utility-maximising theory of the consumer under the conditions of preference...

The stochastic approach is a new way of viewing index numbers in which uncertainty and statistical ideas play a central role. Rather than just providing a single number for the rate of inflation, the stochastic approach provides the whole probability distribution of inflation. This paper...

This paper introduces a simulation procedure in the context of a demand system for vice -- marijuana, tobacco and alcohol -- to formally account for the inherent uncertainty in marijuanarelated data and parameters. This entails using existing econometric estimates pertaining to the consumption...

In many markets unit prices decline as the quantity purchased rises, a phenomenon which can be considered to be part of the economics of packaging. For example, in Australia marijuana costs as much as 80 percent less if purchased in the form of ounces rather than grams. This paper reviews the...

Brief analytical notes on the interactions between exchange rates and commodity prices. Gold and iron-ore are used as examples of the issues raised. The paper also presents a stylised model to determine the effects of exchange-rate changes on the internal and external prices of commodities. Also...

This report contains information about the sessions, papers, speakers and participants in the conference on the Economics of Commodity Prices and Exchange Rates held at the University Club at UWA on 9 June, 2006.

Using data supplied by the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, this paper describes and analyses Australian marijuana prices in the 1990s.

Australians are among the largest consumers of marijuana in the world, and estimates show that their expenditure on marijuana is about twice that on wine. In this paper we analyse the evolution of marijuana prices in Australia and show that they have declined in real terms by almost 40 percent...