Groundwater extraction can have varied and diffuse effects. Negative external effects may include costs imposed on other groundwater users and on surrounding ecosystems. Environmental damages are commonly not reflected in market transactions. Groundwater transfers have the potential to cause...

Perth, Western Australia (pop. 1.6m) derives 60% of its public water supply from the Gnangara groundwater system (GGS). Horticulture, domestic self-supply, and municipal parks are other major consumers of GGS groundwater. The system supports important wetlands and groundwater-dependent...

The development of a market in groundwater usage rights can be inhibited by constraints arising from the institutional context. Such impediments may reduce the potential gains from trade and may generate high transaction costs for prospective traders. We analyse the regulations and policies...

Grain is China’s most significant agricultural product, its output being the most watched indicator by government officials, traders and researchers both inside and outside China. This paper looks into China’s grain production trends in the recent decade and how the grains industry has...

The degradation of environmental quality has been one of the main concerns in Indonesia. The government has mentioned the environmental tax as the instrument of environmental management; however, the primary potential problem will be the issue of compliance. Inspired by the situation in...

How much has food abundance, attributable to U.S. public agricultural R&D, contributed to the high and rising U.S. obesity rates? In this paper we investigate the effects of public investment in agricultural R&D on food prices, per capita calorie consumption, adult body weight, obesity, public...

Problems in natural resource management arise when markets do not work effectively to resolve the inefficiencies associated with the way resource access rights are currently specified. In most cases, this can be linked to incomplete markets. In order to assess potential management options it is...

Pooling of costs and revenues is commonly practiced by public utilities, and by other firms exercising a degree of market power. In this paper, a variety of explanations of pooling are considered. A new explanation based on the concept of common property, is advanced. The costs of pooling are...