Australia is the world's driest continent and the intensity of conflict over water and water management has been increasing , especially in rural areas. By focussing on the recent federalist compact, National Wa ter Initiative (NWI), we explore the use of market and property rights instruments...

Available funds for protecting and managing nature reserves are extremely limited in developing countries, including China. This article considers the financing and management of Xishuangbanna State Nature Reserve in Yunnan as a case study. This Reserve is under the overall management of the...

The establishment of a Commission of Audit has been a routine measure for newly elected conservative governments since the election of the Kennett government in Victoria in 1992. Most notably, Peter Costello, Treasurer in the incoming Howard government, appointed a commission headed by Professor...

The gradualism of economic reforms in China and Vietnam (especially in China, which has led the way in this regard) has been commented on favourably by many analysts studying transitional economies. Early market reforms in China and Vietnam were constrained by political considerations and...

The attainment of self-reliance (zi li geng sheng) is an important goal for China. However, approaches to achieving it have altered greatly since the People’s Republic was established in 1949. Following the split between China and the Soviet Union in 1960, Mao Zedong claimed that China could...

This article provides a general coverage of political decisions in China to undertake, continue and extend its economic reforms and its goal of opening up to the outside world. It also considers the consequences of Chinese policies. The period leading up to the decision in 1978 to begin the...

A feature of the research contribution of Konrad Hagedorn is his proposals for the integration of economic, social and political dimensions of agricultural policy. His wholistic approach involves, in part, an extension of new institutionalism to public policy. This article identifies a number of...

This article adopts the point of view that China’s development policies can only be appreciated if they are considered by applying perspectives from institutional economics. This requires attention to be given to the historical, political and cultural context in which its economic development...

As pointed out in this article, small island economies are diverse in their nature and in the challenges they face. A taxonomy of these economies is provided. The overview takes account of small island economies that are satellites of large countries as well as those which are independent nation...

The pattern of boom and bust that characterised the Australian economy from the early 1970s to the early 1990s currently seem to be a thing of the past as Australia enters its sixteenth year of uninterrupted expansion. The expansion has lasted twice as long as those of the 1970s and 1980s, which...