This paper develops methods to quantify weather derivatives and yield index insurance. These are exotic options that differ from financial options in several ways. The underlying random variable is not a price but a quantity such as millimeters of rainfall. Instead of option "pricing", a method...

The view that the price of water is too low and that water does not flow to its highest value end use, have led many analysts to conclude that a market for water, in which price can adjust to accommodate changes in the supply and demand for the product, is essential. However, this solution...

An exotic disease incursion management model was developed to estimate the regional economy effects of a potential karnal bunt incursion in south eastern Queensland. By developing an agent based spatial model that integrates the biophysical aspects of the disease incursion with the agricultural...

The dynamic process of market globalisation dictates that biological, technological and institutional changes have the capacity to alter the way in which future biosecurity policies are formulated and endorsed. This paper proposes a method of carrying out biosecurity risk profiling for the...

It is notoriously difficult to assess the economic value of research aimed at improving research capacity, particularly in enhancing human capital. In this paper, a framework is developed and an analysis is undertaken of the value of training for scientists in wheat rust resistance in India. The...

The problem of addressing dryland salinity at a landscape is considered in the context of using economic incentives to encourage change in land use by individual landholders to adopt salinity mitigating actions where a public asset of significant value is threatened. This paper reviews the...

This paper evaluates concerns over the "abandonment of production" in the context of the recent CAP reform as it applies to the arable sector. The particular focus of the evaluation is on the extent to which the proposed "single farm payment" can be de-coupled from production and yet avoid the...

In this paper an approach that can be used to determine the distribution of a productivity gain on an industry is detailed. In particular, the model developed in this paper extends earlier evaluations by emphasising the crucial role of substitution between inputs across different participants in...

The Gene Technology Regulator's approval of Bayer CropScience's genetically modified (GM) canola variety, InVigor, and Monsanto's Roundup Ready, means that the commercial planting of Australia's first GM food crop is imminent. Under such circumstances, for Australia to continue marketing non-GM...

American foulbrood (AFB) is considered the most significant brood disease of bees in Western Australia. The Department of Agriculture of Western Australia (DAWA) provides assistance to apiarists by way of quarantine and surveillance measures under the AFB control program. A bio-economic...