The structure of water tariffs is attracting the interest of scholars concerned about the efficacy of the present pricing arrangements. However, finding consensus on the 'appropriate' structure of water and wastewater tariffs has proven problematic. In addition, relatively little is understood...

The welfare costs of urban water restrictions are now well recognised, even if not yet quantified with precision (see, for example, Edwards 2008). Notwithstanding the costs that attend this form of intervention, governments have proven reluctant to abandon them, at least until additional...

There has been substantial focus on water resource development in India, but with emphasis mainly on the technical side. Development of institutions to manage the interactions and arrangements necessary has received little attention. The study uses the new institutional economics framework and...

Water trade remains a contentious political issue in Australia, regardless of the acknowledged benefits to which economists continually refer. At least two sources of concern arise in discussions about water trade. First, concerns are often expressed about inter-sectoral ramifications. These...

In most urban cities across Australia, water restrictions remain the dominant policy mechanism to restrict urban water consumption. The extensive adoption of water restrictions over several years means that Australian urban water prices have consistently not reflected the opportunity cost of...

The degradation of the natural resource base that derives from unsustainable farm practices is of major concern in Australia. Confronted with mounting evidence of the extent of this degradation, governments have employed a variety of policy instruments to induce change amongst the farming...

Notwithstanding the neoclassical predilection for markets as a means of allocating scarce resources, it remains the case that state-devised attenuation of behaviour is the norm for many resource allocation decisions. This is particularly apparent in the case of water in urban areas in Australia,...

The National Water Initiative and earlier water reforms have committed Australian governments to redressing environmental degradation caused by excessive extraction from rivers and groundwater systems. To date, the states, territories and commonwealth have identified a range of alternatives for...

Many economists and policy makers have begun to question the efficacy of water reforms that rely on markets as the principal mechanism for allocating the resource to its highest value use. One of the principal concerns in this regard has been the relative paucity of permanent trades despite ex...