Potential returns to the Australian sheep and wool industries from effective R&D and promotion investments and their sensitivities to assumed elasticity values

Mounter et al. (2007) developed an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) of the Australian sheepmeat and wool industries. In this paper the EDM is used to estimate the potential annual returns and their distribution among the various industry sectors for nine hypothetical investment scenarios. Initially, the EDM is solved for the base set of parameter values. A formal stochastic sensitivity analysis is then undertaken to account for the uncertain parameter values in the model. The results were found to be relatively robust to different parameter values, indicating that the model as specified provides a credible framework to estimate and compare the potential impacts from new technologies, generic promotions and other industry changes in a consistent way.