For much of the 20th century, the expansion of irrigated agriculture in the Murray Darling Basin, was treated as a self-evidently desirable objective, to be pursued without excessive regard to questions of economic costs and benefits. Irrigation seemed to offer a ‘droughtproofing’ solution...

It is likely that climate change will be associated with reductions in inflows of water to the Murray–Darling Basin In this paper, we analyse the effects of climate change in the Murray–Darling Basin, using a simulation model that incorporates a state-contingent representation of...

In a stochastic decision environment, differences in information can lead rational decision makers facing the same stochastic technology and the same markets to make different production choices. Efficiency and productivity measurement in such a setting can be seriously and systematically biased...

The paper begins with a schematic survey of the historical background, which provides the context for the changes embodied in WorkChoices, briefly described in Section 2. The core of the paper, Section 3, examines the role of choice and constraint in the design of the reforms. This analysis is...

This review will focus on the question of discounting. The paper begins with an outline of the expected utility model used in the Stern Review. Next, the question of ‘inherent discounting’, that is, the idea that future outcomes should be discounted simply because they are in the future, is...

It is now virtually certain that Australia and the world will experience significant climate change over the next century, as a result of human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. This note is a brief discussion of the projected effects of climate change on...

This paper describes experiences in the development and testing of three distinct financial models to support farm forestry decisions involving non-traditional tree species in northern Australia and in the Philippines. A variety of options were examined with respect to model design, yield...

The large, unutilised native forest timber resource on traditional Wik land on Cape York Peninsula, Australia, could be managed for timber production to contribute to Wik socio-economic objectives. Wik elders have a set of forestry objectives and envisage that these will be best achieved by a...

The economic impacts of altering quarantine policies are divided into two main areas: trade evaluations, utilising a partial equilibrium approach to determine the benefits of market liberalisation; or pest management economics, used to determine the on-ground impacts of introduced species. This...

The long-term success of the Basin Plan and the Buy-Back will be judged by the capacity of the allocated public funding to deliver water to the environment, potable water supplies for the community and water for irrigation. Water property rights in the Murray-Darling Basin can be divided into...