The diverse modelling activity coming under a defined concept of Simulation is reviewed first through a general outline of suggested methodology and secondly through a survey of applications in agricultural economics and kindred disciplines. The review concludes with a consideration of present...

Adaptation is a critical aspect of applied agricultural research but is one that should be better understood. Accordingly, its dimensions are explored here through analogies with the adaptive behaviour of a person seeking a change in employment. A similar process is then used to illustrate the...

The practice of conducting annual "in house" reviews in international agricultural research institutes is discussed and possible virtues of widespread use of such reviews by Australian agricultural research organizations are reviewed.

The demand for bananas on the Sydney market is studied at both wholesale and retail using time series data at wholesale and cross-section data at retail. The cross-section data come from a pricing experiment in Sydney supermarkets. Estimates of price elasticity of demand are presented for...

Few attempts have been made to estimate production functions for the Australian grazing industries. The question of the nature of the effect of input levels on production risk has been broached even more rarely. Previous investigators had to employ models and methods of estimation which embody...

Project appraisal under uncertainty should, in general, be worked in terms of carefully computed expected or mean values of uncertain elements. The major exceptions are when: (a) project returns are large relative to national income; or (b) project returns are highly correlated with other...

A method is developed for assessing the monetary value of additional information in the framework of a response process which involves interaction between controlled and uncontrolled factors. The method is illustrated through an analysis of the value of a rainfall predictor in determining...

A planning methodology is developed based on Monte Carlo sampling of plans and sorting out inefficient plans according to the rules of stochastic dominance. Illustrations and methodological comparison are made in a context of farm planning under risk, and an application in income stabilization...