The adoption of environmental management practices is addressed in this paper. The use of consumer behaviour theory and a market research approach is discussed by describing how it was used in the study. Qualitative methods were used to gather data from dairy farmers in four New Zealand...

Economic activity is inherently variable and monitoring it is a major challenge, especially in regional economies where resources are fewer and activity is more variable. Using a recent study of the Riverland region, the authors set out the information available, its limitations and means by...

Non-farm rural enterprises (NFRE) are increasingly studied because of their role in poverty reduction. However, existing studies of the effects of infrastructure on NFRE may give incorrect inferences because they typically fail to account for spatial effects. Such effects could reflect either...

In NSW the Water Management Act (2000) requires water to be specifically allocated for environmental purposes so as to improve river health. Water sharing plans have been developed that establish extractive and environmental shares to river flows. In unregulated river systems this has resulted...

Inclining block tariffs, where the unit price is dependent on the volume consumed, are widely used in urban water pricing. These tariffs attempt to satisfy both efficiency and equity goals by providing pricing signals to influence consumption decisions at the margin, whilst making...

This paper will briefly describe the history and intent of the NTA 1993; survey outcomes flowing from its implementation, especially in reference to economic implications of agreements between parties; and consider future prospects, particularly by reference to the amended legislation which came...

Many environmental policy issues involve conflicts between nature conservation and economic development. The economic rationale behind deciding among alternative options is predicated on some form of benefit-cost analysis (BCA). Key issues to date have been non-market valuation, the...

Evaluating land use change in economic frameworks often requires non-market values to be assessed. However non-market valuation experiments can be sensitive to the way the trade offs are framed. The aim of the research reported in this paper was to examine the influence of varying the valuation...

Improving smallholder welfare in the rural sectors of developing countries requires improving access to both input and product markets. Success, however, in developing sustainable and mutually beneficial links between smallholders and agribusiness has been variable. Two recent ACIAR studies...

As Australia begins to implement the National Water Initiative, there are lessons to be learned from past experience in rural adjustment and rural assistance schemes. The experience is rich and the messages powerful. Government intervention in the process of adjustment and change can impede,...