Bugs are an unavoidable aspect of mathematical programming (MP) modelling. In this paper we discuss the prevention and diagnosis of bugs in MP models. The topic is rarely addressed in the literature but is crucial to the success of modelling projects, especially for large models. We argue that...

Modelling complex systems such as multiple-use reservoirs can be challenging. A legitimate question for scientists and modellers is how best to model their management under uncertain rainfall. This paper studies whether it is worth using a stochastic model that requires more effort than a much...

Buying environmental services from private landholders using auction mechanisms often involves repeated multi-unit procurement-type auctions. These can either be target-constrained or budget-constrained. Most of the theoretical literature has focused on the former, whereas government agencies...

The problem of how to discount values in the far future is reviewed, and shown to lead down a blind alley. An alternative is proposed that allows long term consequences to be addressed by decisions using a relatively short term time horizon. A simple model investigating the optimal containment...

We argue that previous assessments of discriminatory-price conservation auctions may have systematically overestimated their performance relative to uniform-payment schemes due to an inappropriate counterfactual comparison. We demonstrate that the cost curve (and not the bid curve) is the...

This paper compares and contrasts a number of farm-level modeling studies published in the academic literature. All of the studies examined adaptation on EU dairy farms in response to developments in agricultural policy and/or environmental legislation. The studies are compared on the basis of...