Search

The purpose of this paper is to examine the positive impact that the creation of food processing hubs can have on "smart specialisation" on the economic development of regional Australia. The analysis looks at two existing developments in Australia, as well as providing an economic evaluation of another "regional hub" that is currently being proposed. Our paper provides an economic impact analysis of the proposed establishment of a food processing hub in Victoria. It presents an analysis on its impact both at a regional level (Gippsland), and more widely across Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of Australia since the 1960s has been one of substantial economic change. One of the key drivers of this has been the growth in the importance of human capital formation and the knowledge intensification of occupations. This paper analyses the intensification of knowledge in different types of employment, over the longer term and the corresponding increase in human capital formation. In order to undertake this analysis, the O*NET measures of knowledge and Australian employment data are used to determine the degree to which human capital in Australia has changed. The paper concludes that there has been a slow but steady rise in the knowledge intensity of Australian occupations over the past thirty-five years, although not uniformly across different groups and consequent level of human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous papers in this issue of Economic Papers have dealt with some substantive issues surrounding food security. The purpose of this article was different. We provide a general commentary on other Australian agricultural policy issues where the rhetoric of food security is used to exaggerate the challenges faced and/or to support solutions to some challenges that are expensive and unrealistic. This article comprises opinion based on historical observations of the agricultural policy process in Australia and the underlying principles of mainstream agricultural economics. It does not offer detailed empirical analysis of the issues discussed. The issues discussed are irrigation in the Murray-Darling Basin, prospects for agricultural production in northern Australia, especially irrigation development, the bias in favour of further processing of agricultural products (value adding), food imports and foreign ownership, and the effects of Asian economic development on Australian agriculture and agricultural trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

of the Grattan Institute released the report titled Investing in the Regions: Making Difference in May 2011. The report sought to question the rationale for differential funding of regional infrastructure projects and concluded that 'government spending cannot make economic water flow uphill' (). The report was used to argue that fast growing regional areas were being deprived of important government funding and that this approach 'has treated people unfairly' (). The authors also scrutinised the argument that regional universities can impact on the economic development of regions and found that 'the economies of university cities do not develop faster than regions without a university' and thus 'it may well be that the additional spending on universities and regional campuses in smaller cities should be redirected to assist students from regional areas to study at larger campuses in our capital cities and largest satellite and coastal cities' (). In this paper, we identify the limitations of this report. We also take the opportunity presented by the release of this report to consider other important policy areas requiring attention, especially in the field of higher education in regional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital, or a better educated labour force, is a major determinant of economic growth and productivity. However, recent trends in the cost of education in Australia may cause growth and productivity to suffer. For example, during the period 1982-2003 inflation rose on average by 4.4 per cent per annum, whereas the cost of education grew overall on average by 7.8 per cent. This has made education a relatively expensive item among Australian households. However, one can argue that the increased cost of education to private households may reflect choices to purchase a higher quality for their children in private schools and as such government should not be concerned about it. This paper compares and contrasts the cost of education in Australia and comparable economies with the cost of other goods and services embedded in the CPI (Consumer Price Index) basket, using the latest available quarterly data. Finally, the major determinants of the rising cost of education in Australia are examined. It is found, inter alia, that over the period 1986-2003 the increasing number of students enrolled at non-government primary and secondary schools and the introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) were two important determinants of the rising cost of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to measure markup and returns to scale for eight Australian manufacturing industries, for the period 1971-72 to 1984-85, and to explore the relationship between markup, the business cycle and openness to the international economy in this period. A Hall type model is used for this purpose, where allowance is made for non-stochastic time variation in the contribution of technical change to output growth and intermediate materials are included in the production function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional and remote tourism in Australia is characterised by micro‐, small‐ and medium‐sized businesses, spatially dispersed and fragmented. Characteristics which present unique challenges for these communities attempting to develop tourism as a way of diversifying their economy. This study explored the views and experiences from residents and businesses in six remote local government areas in South Western Queensland to identify the barriers and enablers for remote communities to using tourism as a driver of economic and social‐cultural growth. We found a lack of understanding of the structure and behaviour of the tourism industry; a lack of business acumen; a lack of financial and human resources; and a reluctance to collaborate by tourism businesses to be barriers to tourism‐led economic growth. Enablers to tourism led growth included: local government support for tourism development; a sound understanding of the mechanics and structure of the tourism industry; and the capacity to engage in marketing that captured and narrated the visitor experience in digital channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a preliminary exploration of the role of adaptive efficiency and institutional learning as the basis for long-run economic growth in Australia by means of an analysis of the institutional changes in water rights between 1850 and 1886 in the colony of Victoria. It is argued that the effects of adaptive efficiency and institutional learning led to the replacement of growth-hindering institutional arrangements in water supply in favour of growth-enhancing frameworks that provided the basis for better economic performance over the long-run. The analysis presents evidence that suggests that in addition to the colonial experience, adaptive efficiency embedded in the inheritance of British culture rather than institutions has played an important role in Australia's economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficiency and equity arguments for changing the structure of, and the aggregate level of, special taxation of the mining industry are reviewed. An economic rent base tax would cause smaller taxation distortions than the current quantity base royalties. A higher level of taxation of immobile factors, including mining resources, as part of a tax-mix change to fund lower taxation of internationally mobile capital would lead to higher Australian economic growth and after-tax returns to labour. The Brown tax, the Allowance for Corporate Capital, and versions of a resource rent tax, including the petroleum resource rent tax and minerals resource rent tax variants, are described and evaluated as measures of economic rent in the mining industry. In principle, the Brown tax has greater transparency and desired efficiency properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the state of commercial development and resource management on Indigenous land in remote Australia. Indigenous landowners control significant assets--over one million square kilometres of land--often with substantial resource rights and income earning potential. The inactivity and missed opportunities on the Indigenous estate are of such magnitude as to represent a major risk both for Indigenous landowning communities, in terms of their future economic and social well-being, and for national and international interests in terms of ecological vulnerability. The article explores the role of government as risk manager in such circumstances and outlines the principles that might underpin any intervention program targeted to the commercial development of Indigenous land. Using the analytical framework for profit-related loans and elements of an existing venture capital support programme, the Innovation Investment Fund Program, we outline the hypothetical skeleton of a new investment scheme to assist development and natural resource management on the Indigenous estate. Our proposal can be conceptualised as a profit-related loan scheme or as a form of capped public investment. It seeks to address key elements of the market failure that exists in relation to financing development on remote Indigenous land, provides incentives for greater private sector investment, and ensures that commercial and social risks are shared equitably between government, private sector investors and Indigenous-owned corporations to avoid problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the general issue of whether or not the Australian Commonwealth Government should target population size at all. Approaches to discussing the effects of population size on economic welfare; Failure of the economic theory to establish the strong linkages between population size and economic prosperity; Relationship between population size and material welfare.

This short note estimates using the Kmenta's (1967) approximation, a constant elasticity of substitution ( CES) production function for Australia for 1960-2004. It is found that the elasticity of substitution is 2.44, technical progress is capital augmenting and the steady-state growth rate ( SSGR) of Australia is about 0.34%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay attempts to quantify and explain the economic performance of Australia from the first European settlement to the present, and beyond. A general dynamic theory—the 'dynamic-strategy' theory—has been employed to provide a new interpretation of 'dynamics Downunder'. It is shown, among other things, that the bold attempt from the 1910s to the 1960s to turn aside from the traditional development policy of exogenously driven natural-resource exploitation in order to embark on an endogenously determined dynamic process, has broken down during the course of the present generation. This was mainly due to a failure of 'strategic leadership' on the part of recent Australian governments that have, quite rightly, dismantled the framework of protection but have failed to replace it with the infrastructure of strategically relevant technological ideas. Once again Australia's economic prosperity depends heavily on the fluctuating fortunes of the global economy. While in the nineteenth century this took the form of reliance on the prosperity of Britain, today it centres on the continuing growth of Japan and China. This critical problem has been exacerbated by the misconceived policy of inflation targeting, which is damaging the central endogenous dynamic mechanism. What then of the future? It all depends on whether strategic leadership can ever be rediscovered, and a new dynamic economic strategy be adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the implications of China's rapid economic growth on the demand for energy and minerals, especially on the demand for these products imported from Australia. Since China's rapid growth is likely to continue for about another two decades, its demand for energy and minerals will expand as well. Nonetheless, as the share of manufacturing decreases, the expansion in demand for energy and minerals in China will slow over that period. While China's aggregate demand for energy and minerals will not expand as rapidly as its economy, its import needs, including imports from Australia, will increase more rapidly than its economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the debate about the future of indigenous football codes such as Australian Rules and Gaelic football has centred on the possibility that in the future their popularity will be eroded by the increasing power of soccer. Several commentators have envisaged a future in which sports that operate in a global marketplace will 'crowd out' sports that have been traditionally popular in certain parts of the world. This article will examine these predictions critically, and will suggest several reasons why in the future, the range of sports that is played, watched, and followed with passion, is likely to continue to vary from nation to nation, and even from region to region. The article will argue that the success of any particular football code is most likely to be affected by the effectiveness of its own organisation and management, rather than whether or not there are 'global' competitors to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the insights of economic theory into the effects of trade and aid of Australia on the economic development of developing countries. Negative impact of aid on the economic development of developing countries; Relationship between aid and economic growth; Trade policy of Australia.