Discussion of rural poverty has tended to emphasise farm poverty at the expense of rural urban poverty. There are serious problems in measuring the former but the evidence suggests that there is a sizeable group of chronically poor farm people. Only the Rural Adjustment Scheme appears to have...

This article describes the federal government's rural policy activities during 1986. It emphasizes the interactions between rural and other policy areas and the prevailing influence of "politics". The Labor Government's rural policy-making in 1986 was preoccupied with the ramifications of the...

The key role of institutions in mediating rural markets, and thus in influencing economic change in agriculture, is explored. Pertinent theories of institutional change are reviewed and the place of external intervention, whereby outside agencies attempt to assist market mediation, is examined....

Rural policy-making came under increasing pressure during 1990 and 1991 as a rural downturn rivalling the 1982-83 drought eroded farm incomes. International trade reform was stalled, the government procrastinated during the wool crisis and continued to be tardy in delivering the benefits of...

An emphasis on the public provision of health and education in Thailand assisted both sectors to make a substantial contribution to the consistently high growth rates achieved during the 1980s. However, a review of development goals is opportune. Three types of reform are recommended: (a)...

In multi-period farm planning problems involving uncertainty, the usual case in the real world, planning must involve a continuous process of re-evaluation. In this dynamic situation it is necessary to know the number of periods to include in the decision model to ensure optimality. This is...

Farm adjustment is a complex process involving decisions by farmers about a wide range of economic and non-economic factors which influence the farm business and farm family. The economics literature emphasises the importance of economic factors in the adjustment behaviour of farmers. However,...

Single-index models from portfolio theory have previously been adapted for risk efficient farm planning in North America. The potential for using single-index models in farm planning is considered in this paper both theoretically and in the light of two illustrative Australian case studies. It...