Variability of rainfall and commodity prices are important off-farm factors influencing the profitability of dryland farming. Since neither of the above factors can be predicted, lessons from the past can be a preparation for the future. Analysing farm profit over ten years is suggested as a way...

The term “value chain” describes the collection of activities that are performed to design, produce, market, deliver and support a product. The Australian sugar industry value chain has a number of distinct stages involved in the transformation of the cane crop into raw and refined sugar and...

This paper considers an alternative approach dichotomous choice contingent valuation (DC), referred to as the dissonance minimising format (DM). This method seeks to reduce the extent of positive bias at the formulation stage of stated preference experiments known as “yea-saying”, in order...

This paper discusses the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Economic Impact Model which can be used in ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of projects. The model is a traded good model which estimates changes in producer and consumer surplus as a result of a supply or...

The theory of induced innovation says that technological innovations which economize on relatively scarce inputs will be invented and adopted. Hayami and Ruttan have hypothesized that this model also holds for institutional innovations. Williamson suggests that economic organization, such as...

The brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), introduced to New Zealand in 1858, is a significant conservation pest and a major vector of bovine tuberculosis (Tb; Mycobacterium bovis). Consequently, central and local government agencies now spend more than $30 million (NZD) each year on possum...

The collapse in Australian pig prices during 1997/98 to their lowest levels in three decades triggered the third industry economic crisis for the nineties, appeals for government assistance and relief from pigmeat import competition. Two national inquiries were instigated in 1998: a Rural...

This paper analyses the impact of royalties in the context of a bilateral monopoly bargaining process. It is shown that the bilateral monopoly model is characterised by two distinct forms which are distinguished by the shape of the seller’s marginal cost function, and that the view that...

Recent theoretical work suggests that government policies may in°uence the quality mix of a commodity. This paper provides empirical evidence of quality responses to government policies for wheat policy implemented in France. Analysis is conducted using a detailed data set that includes the...

In this paper an extensive review of the theoretical and applied literature on NRA is provided. The review begins by explaining the economic theory that underpins NRA, contrasting welfare and sustainability as policy goals, and presenting various distinct conceptions of national income. The...