Institutional design focuses on the task of providing accountability and effective monitoring of decision-making by bodies vested with the coercive powers of the state in a context where information is inherently limited, costly to acquire and asymmetrically distributed. This paper focuses on...

Agroenvironmental problems (e.g., contamination of ground- and surface water, feed lot odors, endangered species) often involve goods and activities with public goods attributes. Grass roots collective action- in contrast to top-down governmental collective actions of taxing, subsidizing, and...

Most foodstuffs have quality attributes that are difficult to determine prior to purchase. Thus quality assurance is an inherent problem in food exporting. Private quality assurance can succeed if exporters can credibly signal that they have much to lose from cessation of purchases. If exporters...

There has been increasing scrutiny of government policy decisions and advice in recent years. The supremacy of the national interest has been questioned and self interest theories explored. Administrative systems have been reformed, and the role of the Westminster model of government...

The Report commenced, appropriately, by addressing the federal contract within which Australian agricultural policy is set. The Australian Constitution limits what can be done by the Commonwealth and State Governments and establishes procedures for settling arguments about where jurisdictions...

Rural depopulation has put in question the economic viability of many rural institutions. This paper discusses a number of the important conceptual issues that need to be considered when examining the economics of one group of rural institutions, namely schools. Measurement of educational output...