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Product export provides an option for horticulture producers in Queensland (Australia) to diversify their market and increase returns from production. Vertical supply chain coordination in the form of contract-based marketing agreements between producers and export agents/distributors could facilitate increased export. The aim of this study was to investigate the willingness of horticulture producers to participate in export focused contract-based marketing agreements. To achieve this aim, a survey including a discrete choice experiment was conducted. The results from a mixed logit model and a latent class model suggest that there are three clusters of producers: a) the export interested, b) the likely risk averse, and c) those well established in the domestic markets. Only producers in group a) expressed a preference for contract-based export marketing agreements. These producers appear to be younger, already have some export experience, and have a relatively high level of collaboration in their product supply chains. Producers in groups b) and c) expressed an interest in stronger coordination within the domestic retail sector, potentially in the form of contract farming. Prices of produce and potential higher production costs are determinants identified by all producer groups as important for their decision-making about changes to their supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In 2020, mechanisms to limit the chain of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Australia led to widespread restrictions on population mobility and business operations. Such conditions provide a natural experiment that may help to provide insights into consumer behaviour and future trends in food consumption. The overall objective of this study is to explore the possible impacts of COVID-19 on meat consumption patterns in Australia, both in the short and medium term, and to explore whether there have been impacts on the underlying drivers for consumption. Design/methodology/approach: The research reported in this paper analyses the impacts of COVID-19 on meat and seafood consumption in Australia, drawing on a national random survey of 1,200 participants in June 2020. Survey data on past and current consumption rates are compared to respondent estimates of their future consumption behaviour, and ordered probit models are used to identify whether consumption changes can be explained by socio-demographic, attitudinal or economic factors. Findings: Two potential scenarios were evaluated to explore future consumption trends. The first "acceleration" scenario is that the restrictions would encourage people to speed up existing declines in meat consumption, perhaps taking more account of credence factors such as health, animal welfare and environmental issues. The second "transformation" scenario is that people will change consumption patterns, perhaps moving more towards home-cooked meals and increased consumption. Slightly stronger support was found for the transformation scenario, indicating that consumption rates for most meats and seafood will be stable or increase over the next five years. Originality/value: This study capitalises on changed social and economic settings generated by COVID-19 to test the effects on consumption of meat (chicken, beef, pork, lamb) and seafood at a national level. Ordered probit models are applied to evaluate participant data on their future intentions for meat consumption to test two scenarios, finding stronger support for the "transformative" scenario than the "accelerate" scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing nutrient runoff from sugarcane production into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has become a major policy focus for the Queensland and Australian Governments. This study explores consumer willingness to pay (WTP) to achieve higher environmental standards for sugar originating from the GBR catchments, through the use of a GBR‐safe ecolabel. A Best‐Worst Scaling (BWS) and a Contingent Valuation (CV) experiment are conducted on a random sample of 1,100 Australian residents. The BWS experiment reveals that personal health considerations are more important than sustainability and environmental factors, including impacts on the GBR. Results of the CV experiment show that respondents are more likely to pay a premium to support Reef‐friendly sugar if they are living in urban areas, plan to visit the GBR in the future, think that the GBR condition has declined, and are generally concerned about keeping a healthy diet. We estimate that the average WTP is $24.5/year/household, which only represents 0.34 per cent of the average weekly grocery bill of Australian households. This small contribution through increased sugar prices could conservatively raise $46.9M/year in support of sugar producers to improve water quality in the GBR. Based on these results, we recommend policy‐makers consider instruments that further involve sugar consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incentive payments to landholders have become increasingly popular as mechanisms to achieve conservation goals. Within these mechanisms economists commonly recommend competitive tenders over fixed rate payment schemes because (a) specialist knowledge of landholders about their own enterprises and costs can be utilized, (b) auction prices are more likely to reflect the marginal value of the resources being used to produce the environmental outcome, and (c) the scope for rent seeking is reduced by competition between landholders. Yet there is very little uptake of conservation tenders as agrienvironmental schemes, potentially because of the difficulties in generating sufficient levels of landholder participation to make tenders effective. In this paper we summarize the efficiency benefits of using competitive tenders, analyze reasons why participation rates may be so low, and suggest potential mechanisms to address this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benefit transfer is the use of pre-existing empirical estimates from one or more settings where research has been conducted previously to predict measures of economic value or related information for other settings. These transfers offer a feasible means to provide information on economic values when time, funding and other constraints impede the use of original valuation studies. The methods used for applied benefit transfers vary widely, however, and it is not always clear why certain procedures were applied or whether alternatives might have led to more credible estimates. Motivated by the importance of benefit transfers for decision-making and the lack of consensus guidance for applied practice, this article provides recommendations for the conduct of valid and reliable transfers, based on the insight from the combined body of benefit transfer research. The primary objectives are to: (a) advance and inform benefit-transfer applications that inform decision making, (b) encourage consensus over key dimensions of best practice for these applications, and (c) focus future research on areas requiring further advances. In doing so, we acknowledge the healthy tension that can exist between best practice as led by the academic literature and practical constraints of real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining social values for protecting coastal assets, including coastal parks, beaches and foreshores, is important because of potential losses with climate change impacts. In a case study application in Victoria, Australia, the travel cost method was applied to value the use of camping parks by visitors, and the choice modelling technique was applied to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors and residents to avoid future losses in foreshore campground access and beach width, through protection and adaptation efforts. While both visitors and residents had similar values for park and campsite, and beach protection, residents valued beach protection as more important whereas visitors placed greater importance in protecting parks and campsites. Visitor values were higher for sites and beaches closer to metropolitan Melbourne. These results provide government agencies and coastal managers with better information about protection values for low lying coastal assets and will enable more informed decisions to be made about investing in coastal protection and the management of specific resources in the face of sea level rise and climate threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major challenge in post-mining land use planning is identifying areas of consensus among engaged stakeholders about major concerns and suitable post-mining land use and land management. This paper takes as an example, the Bowen Basin, a major coal-mining region in Australia where several mines are approaching closure stages but consensus on post-mining land use in this region is yet to be established. This paper examines the use of workshop processes to generate consensus among different stakeholder interests about priority issues and acceptable post-mining land use(s) in this region. Four decision-making workshops about post-mining land use were used in this study. Results show that facilitated group workshop processes involving diverse stakeholders could lead to a broad consensus about key options for future land uses at an individual site level; and also lead to the identification of the factors relevant to land-use decisions to be considered for each case study. These findings guide mining companies and government regulators about why and how to involve local and regional stakeholders in post-mining land-use decisions, and the extent to which group processes can lead to convergence of diverse interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important policy question in Australia is whether regions can attract workforce and population with current policy settings, or whether there are additional social aspects of people's affinity for regions that may limit migration to regional centres. Using the results of a national household survey, this article tests the extent to which the propensity for internal migration varies between city and metropolitan populations. A series of experiments were used to evaluate the relative importance of factors relevant to relocation or commuting to different types of regional centres, as well as the salary increases required. Only about five percent of the workforce were identified as highly mobile, while more than half of the workforce were not prepared to move no matter what increase in salary is offered. Large salary increases would be required to encourage the "average" employee to move to regional areas, especially from metropolitan locations, with larger salary increases required for long-distance commuting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Australia's Swan River is a complex asset providing environmental, recreational and commercial benefits. Agencies responsible for its management rely extensively on advice from experts, whose preferences may or may not align with those of the community. Using a choice experiment, we compared public and expert preferences for managing the river's ecology and tested the application of budget‐reallocation and personal‐cost payment vehicles. The results indicate that the budget‐reallocation method is a suitable payment vehicle for public and expert samples, although there are some differences to the more traditional personal‐cost vehicles because of different trade‐offs involved. Modelling revealed heterogeneity in preferences. Expert and public preferences were statistically different from one another at the mean, but a significant amount of heterogeneity existed in the populations sampled. The differences in preferences across both public and expert groups suggest that the measurement of public values for the environment is still an important part of the management process, even when experts are providing advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ageing in place is one of the greatest desires of elderly people. Assistive digital technologies could potentially delay the institutionalization of the elderly people and allow them ageing in place. This study develops a population-wide cost estimating framework for adopting digital technologies that can improve the quality of life of elderly people through examining an Australian region. Methods: We developed a five-stage cost estimation framework, which involved progressive forecasting of elderly population and direct cost estimation methods. The forecasting and cost estimation models have been set for a 10-year period because the prediction accuracy from cross-sectional data is better in the short to medium term compared to the long-term. For cost estimation, we categorised the ageing population on the basis of the number of chronic diseases that they have contracted. Costs of assistive technologies were collected from open sources. The model has been tested in the Fitzroy and Central West, a regional area of Queensland in Australia. A stakeholder panel discussion in a workshop format was used to validate the appropriateness of the proposed framework and the study findings. Results: This study identified eight common chronic diseases with different comorbidity patterns in Australia. We also identified the required assistive technologies to assist patients with chronic diseases. This study estimated that annual per capita cost for technological intervention could range from AUD 4,169 to AUD 7,551 on the basis of different price margins of the technologies. Conclusion: The approach of categorising the aged cohorts on the basis of the number of chronic diseases helps estimate population-wide costs compared to using single technology intervention costs for a particular chronic disease cohort. The cost estimation framework and the method developed in this study can assist the government to estimate costs for ageing-in-place programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using economic analysis to prioritise improvements in environmental conditions is particularly difficult when multiple benefits are involved. This includes ‘bundling’ issues in agricultural pollution management, where a change in management action or farming systems generates multiple improvements, such as reductions in more than one pollutant. In this study, we conceptualise and compare two different approaches to analysing cost‐effectiveness when varying bundles of benefits are generated for a single project investment. Each approach requires data to be transformed in some way to allow the analysis to proceed. The index approach requires the transformation on the benefits side so that the effects of multiple pollutant changes can be combined into a measure for each project which can then be compared to costs. By comparison, the disaggregation approach requires the transformation on the costs side where costs for each project have to be apportioned across the different pollutants involved. The paper provides novel insights with an application to agricultural water quality improvements into the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, demonstrating that while both approaches are effective in prioritising projects by cost‐effectiveness, the disaggregation approach provides more insightful results and values that may be relevant for use as upper value guidelines in future project selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important challenge in managing renewable resources is to understand why owners and managers sometimes make decisions that deplete resources and future earnings, such as when graziers allow pastures and land condition to be degraded. In this paper, we test two potential reasons for unsustainable management practices, myopia and salience, with each explaining why resource managers may exhibit impatience in harvest decisions. Myopia is associated with decision makers placing lower weight on future outcomes than would be implied by their pure time preference. Salience is associated with overweighting of consumption ‘now’, implying inconsistency in time preferences. To test for these effects on renewable resource management, an incentivised, dynamic field experiment was carried out with rangeland grazing enterprise owners in north‐eastern Australia that related management choices with uncertain rainfall events to both profits and land condition over time. Results demonstrate that respondents exhibiting myopia/salience in their choices tended to achieve lower cumulative scores in the experiment, as well as lower land conditions on their properties as measured with remote sensing data. Our results explain why there may be persistent optimisation failures by resource owners that reduce both profits and environmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes the current state and future prospects for benefit transfer of environmental and resource values. Benefit transfer is the use of pre-existing empirical estimates from primary studies at one or more sites or contexts where research has been conducted to predict welfare estimates such as willingness to pay at other, typically unstudied sites or contexts. We orient the discussion around theory, methods and practice, focusing on progress, challenges and frontiers in the literature since the review of Johnston and Rosenberger (2010, Journal of Economic Surveys). The article begins with a brief history of benefit transfer and a summary of areas in which there is methodological consensus. It then presents questions regarding the approaches most likely to promote valid and reliable transfers, and recent research to address these questions. We conclude with an examination of the gap between research and practice, and a discussion of future prospects and research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While public concern over the welfare of farm animals is believed to have intensified across Australia in recent years, no empirical research has sought to examine and quantify the heterogeneity in farm animal-welfare (FAW) concerns among Australian meat consumers. The present study is the first to address this knowledge gap. Data were collected in 2015 by using a comprehensive online survey instrument completed by a representative sample of 1009 Australian meat consumers. Sample quotas were set for age, gender and location. Using these data, we were able to segment meat consumers according to their attitudes towards FAW and perceptions regarding the environmental impact of meat production. Six unique segments were identified and characterised by purchase behaviour, livestock-management knowledge, farming background and experience, beliefs regarding the consumer/farmer implications of improved FAW, influential information sources, participation in FAW-related activities and socio-demographic variables. Our findings showed that the majority of Australian meat consumers (70%) hold neutral views regarding FAW. However, there are two segments, termed 'concerned- FAW' (10%) and 'anti-FAW' (20%), which expressed strong views with respect to FAW. Overall, consumer knowledge regarding livestock-management practices was low across all segments, with only 11-42% of consumers indicating that they felt sufficiently informed about FAW. This insight into perceptions of FAW by different segments and the impact of meat production on the environment can assist the industry in developing targeted information campaigns to address consumer concerns and allow better-informed meat purchase decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the progress made over the past few years in evaluating and controlling for spatial heterogeneity in stated preference valuation, focussing on applications to environmental valuation. Spatial heterogeneity can strongly impact value estimates, so failure to account for it can compromise their validity and reliability. Incorporating spatial factors into valuation studies not only helps to control for some potential biases, but also produces more precise evaluation of amenities that have mixed use and non-use values. For these reasons and considering the ever-growing need for non-market valuation studies, spatial heterogeneity deserves more attention in the stated preference valuation literature. In this review we discuss the current state-of-knowledge and identify some of the main issues that have been raised in the literature in relation to spatial heterogeneity in stated preference valuation, including distance-decay, substitution, embedding effects and scale factors. We present several techniques that have been used so far, mostly originating from spatial econometrics and spatial statistics, to control for spatial heterogeneity. Some of the ongoing challenges that require further attention are also highlighted. We conclude by suggesting potential directions for future research in light of recent progress made in related disciplines and the evolution of modern technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a framed field experiment considering hypothetical stocking rate decisions made by grazing enterprise managers and estimate non-linear multinomial logit models for a range of nested non-expected utility and expected utility models. The risk and decision-bias parameters for five models estimated for individual responses are shown to be significantly related to land condition but in ways which suggest behavioural aspects of decision making are critical in understanding land management and stocking rate decisions. Our results show that individual heterogeneity in decision making amongst farming groups is likely to be a significant source of variation in farming intensity and technology adoption decisions. This heterogeneity does not appear to be a reflection of socio-demographic characteristics. Furthermore, decision functions appear to be biased toward selection of simpler representative functions (e.g. Expected Utility) for sample averages. This suggests that experimental findings that Expected Utility is representative for actual decisions may be due to sample averaging rather than reflect actual behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second-chance education in Australia is dominated by university-based Enabling Programs facilitating an alternative pathway to undergraduate study; however there has been little systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of these programs. Examining archival data at a regional university from 2001 to 2011, the rate of completions and articulations into undergraduate study was established. After 2006, increases in enrolments in Enabling Programs were offset by declines in completions and articulations, resulting in average costs of successful outcomes increasing. From 2005 onwards universities received additional government funding for offering Enabling Programs and, while an increase in enrolments indicated greater equity of access, a decrease in successful outcomes signalled a reduction in efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the transferability of the nonmarket values of water conservation for domestic and environmental purposes across three south European countries and Australia applying a common choice experiment design. Different approaches are followed to test the transferability of the estimated values, aiming to minimise transfer errors for use in policy analysis, comparing both single- and multicountry transfers, with and without socio-economic adjustments. Within Europe, significant differences are found between implicit prices for environmental water use, but not for domestic water use. In the Australian case study, alleviating restrictions on domestic water use has no significant value. Pooling the three European samples improves the transferability of the environmental flow values between Europe and Australia. Results show that a reduction in transfer error is achieved when controlling for unobserved and observed preference heterogeneity in the single- and multicountry transfers, providing additional support for the superiority of socio-economic adjustment procedures in value transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As emissions from the global road freight transport sector continue to rise, an understanding of how emissions are produced, estimated and measured is increasingly important. This article identifies the key influences on greenhouse emissions from heavy-duty diesel trucking, and evaluates the reporting options currently available under the Australian National Greenhouse Emissions Reporting Scheme. The latter is done through a case study of emissions modelling, used to illustrate the trade-offs in different reporting options. The article concludes that routine reporting based on method 2 should deliver more accurate reportable emissions, as well opportunities to better understand emissions profiles and strategies for reducing emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a stated preference valuation survey, the expected benefits of environmental policies are generally presented to respondents without reference to the fact that the predicted outcomes are rarely known with certainty. This omission may reduce the credibility of the valuation scenario and contribute to hypothetical bias. In the study outlined in this paper, a choice experiment was conducted to elicit values for environmental improvements in the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), with outcome certainty included as a separate attribute. Different specifications of the utility functions, which imply different behavioural assumptions about the way choices have been made, generate variations in value estimates. Results showed that respondents incorporate outcome certainty into their decisions, but that an expected utility formulation, represented by the interaction between environmental protection and likelihood of occurrence, underestimated environmental values. Some environmental protection values appear to be independent of outcome certainty, which may be consistent with existence values and other non-use categories. A partial expected utility model is cautiously recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining boom in Australia since 2003 has produced significant economic benefits for regional, State and National economies, creating new job opportunities and revenue flows. Despite the contribution of the resources sector to economic growth, questions are frequently raised about the concomitant negative social, economic and environmental impacts. The Surat Basin in southern Queensland is a traditional agricultural region with a small but growing coal mining sector and a rapidly developing liquefied natural gas industry (mainly associated with extracting coal seam gas). In this paper, the preferences of residents in Brisbane, the State capital, are explored in relation to the relative importance of social, economic and environmental impacts of the resource boom in the Surat Basin. A choice modelling experiment was conducted to assess the trade-offs Brisbane residents would make (in monetary terms) between the economic benefits and the associated costs of increased mining activity on local communities. The results identify the strength of concerns about community and environmental impacts and can potentially be used to help evaluate the net benefits of resource development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Resource-based activity provides a strong stimulus to local economies, largely through the high incomes paid to employees in the resources sector, plus the large levels of expenditure through supporting business chains. However, the role that resource development plays in driving regional population dynamics remains poorly understood, particularly with respect to the rising use of non-resident labour force practices. Supply of labour via fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) options creates a range of direct and indirect pressures on host communities. These are predominantly linked with difficulties in counting the non-resident population, and hence planning for, and investing in, the social infrastructure required to meet the new demand. Non-residency also represents a distinct 'opportunity cost' for regions, because local population growth is a powerful business case for public and private investment in infrastructure and services. The dual effect of FIFO/DIDO is thus not only to introduce new demand for infrastructure and services, but also to deny regions the chance for baseline population growth, and with it, the likelihood of improving living standards. This paper presents a case study illustrating the value of resource activity in stimulating local population growth in Central Queensland, and how the strength of this stimulus varies with patterns of resident and non-resident workforce mixes. Demographic modelling prepared using the economic multiplier approach suggest that in excess of up to 180,000 additional people could move into the region by 2018 in direct response to resource sector growth, if the workforce was fully resident. However, the extent of population in-migration - and consequent economic growth - reduces as the proportion of non-resident workforce increases. Under predominantly DIDO or predominantly FIFO scenario, the regional population boost is decreased by up to 23% or 44%, respectively. Populating regional Australia will be an essential part of the national growth strategy going forward. However, without a change in policy to re-emphasise the importance of supplying labour locally, the role that resource regions will play in this growth, and the positive impacts associated with local population increases, will not be maximised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to estimate the values to protect the health of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) at the national level and to examine the effects of distance decay on valuation estimates. Two choice-modelling experiments were conducted in six locations: a regional town within the GBR catchment area (Townsville); Brisbane, the state capital approximately 450 km from the southern limit of the GBR; and four other capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth) ranging from nearly 1,000 km to over 4,000 km from Brisbane. Value estimates from a pooled model suggest that the average WTP across Australian households is $21.68 per household per annum for 5 years, and that those values are higher for respondents with higher levels of education and income, respondents who live in Queensland, respondents who live further away, and respondents who plan to visit more often in the future. For this nationally important iconic asset, apparent distance decay effects appear to be explained by variations in future usage and state responsibility, rather than proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key methodological question in choice experiments is to identify whether there is a difference in choice behavior, and subsequent value estimates, when choices are constrained to mutually exclusive alternatives in labeled experiments compared to when combinations of alternatives are available. This issue is important when policy management options are represented in labeled experiments, as it is easier to represent management options as mutually exclusive choice alternatives, but combinations of management options may be more relevant in the policy world. This issue is tested with a case study application to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. A split-sample experiment is implemented where one survey includes four labeled alternatives: a status quo option and three specific policy management options (restricted choice). The other survey provides respondents with an unrestricted choice set by including a fifth alternative choice, labeled as 'a combination of management options.' The results provide some evidence that adding a combination policy alternative does change the way that respondents view trade-offs, but that choice behavior and subsequent value estimates are consistent across the two survey formats. Une question d'ordre méthodologique importante se pose dans le cas de la méthode des choix discrets expérimentaux : déterminer s'il existe ou non une différence dans les choix des répondants et dans les estimations subséquentes lorsque les alternatives proposées sont mutuellement exclusives et lorsque les alternatives proposées peuvent être des combinaisons d'alternatives mutuellement exclusives. Il s'agit d'un point important lorsque les options de gestion de politiques figurent dans des expériences avec des alternatives nongénériques étant donné qu'il est plus facile de présenter les stratégies de gestion comme des alternatives mutuellement exclusives, bien que les combinaisons de stratégies de gestion puissent être plus pertinentes pour les décideurs. Nous avons vérifié ce point à l'aide d'une étude de cas appliquée à la grande barrière de corail (Great Barrier Reef) de l'Australie. Nous avons utilisé la technique de l'échantillon fractionné : un premier sondage comprenait quatre choix distincts : conservation du statu quo et trois alternatives de gestion de politiques (choix contraint); un deuxième sondage comprenait un choix complet d'alternatives incluant une cinquième alternative intitulée « combinaison de stratégies de gestion ». Les résultats semblent indiquer que l'ajout d'une telle alternative influence la perception des répondants à l'égard de la valorisation des attributs, mais que les choix des répondants et les estimations subséquentes se ressemblent dans les deux formules de sondage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers wanting to increase protection of the Great Barrier Reef from pollutants generated by agriculture need to identify when measures to improve water quality generate benefits to society that outweigh the costs involved. The research reported in this paper makes a contribution in several ways. First, it uses the improved science understanding about the links between management changes and reef health to bring together the analysis of costs and benefits of marginal changes, helping to demonstrate the appropriate way of addressing policy questions relating to reef protection. Second, it uses the scientific relationships to frame a choice experiment to value the benefits of improved reef health, with the results of mixed logit (random parameter) models linking improvements explicitly to changes in "water quality units." Third, the research demonstrates how protection values are consistent across a broader population, with some limited evidence of distance effects. Fourth, the information on marginal costs and benefits that are reported provide policymakers with information to help improve management decisions. The results indicate that while there is potential for water quality improvements to generate net benefits, high cost water quality improvements are generally uneconomic. A major policy implication is that cost thresholds for key pollutants should be set to avoid more expensive water quality proposals being selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of competitive tenders to purchase environmental services requires judgements to be made about the funding scale and tender scope, with the latter incorporating considerations of geographic area, industries involved and the types of environmental outputs required. Increasing the scale and scope of tenders increases the likelihood that a larger range of proposals will be proposed and cost-effective ones selected. However, the use of larger and more broadly scoped tenders may reduce landholder participation and increase asking bids. In the study reported here, these issues have been tested with a single water quality tender run in north-eastern Australia in 2007 and 2008. Post hoc tests and workshop exercises show that while larger-scale and scope tenders can generate efficiency gains, care has to be taken to maintain participation and avoid higher bid levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study reported in this article is focused on estimating recreational values associated with the Coorong in South Australia. Count data models extended with contingent behaviour (CB) questions have been used to assess recreation values as well as sensitivity to changed access conditions. A recreation value of $111 per adult visitor per day has been estimated, which can be extrapolated to a consumer surplus of approximately $30.5 million per annum at the site. Random coefficient negative binomial models have been applied to the CB data, with results indicating that a marginal value of at least $17.20 per person per trip is attached to each 1 per cent change in access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies valuing recreation have shown that the travel cost method (TCM) generates higher estimates of value than the contingent valuation method (CVM), even though the latter is commonly associated with potential problems of hypothetical and strategic bias. In this study, both methods have been used to estimate the recreational values associated with the Coorong on the Murray River in south-eastern Australia. Values per adult visitor per recreation day are estimated with the TCM at $149 and with the CVM at $116. A number of methodological and framing issues to explain these value differences are tested. In summary, while no single methodological or framing issue could be identified that would reconcile the difference between TCM and CVM values, it appears likely that there may be a combination of factors that drive the systematic variations in consumer surplus values. The evidence in this study suggests that the most important of these are likely to be the different decision points underpinning data collection and the consideration of substitute sites, strategic responses and the treatment of uncertain responses within the CVM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to examine how repeated choice affects preference learning in stated preference experiments. We test different hypotheses related to preference learning by analyzing response patterns and asking respondents in a choice experiment to report their experienced certainty when going through the choice tasks. In a split-sample test, we show that follow-up choice certainty questions are procedural invariant. The self-reported certainty results indicate that learning occurs, but econometric testing procedures do not identify any significant impact of learning effects on parameter estimates or variance across choice tasks. Additional tests of choice consistency suggest that preferences in the choice experiment are stable and coherent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining activities in Australia tend to be cyclical, with boom and bust times impacting upon associated communities. However, little information exists to classify key impacts or to identify how they vary across mining service towns. In this paper, qualitative social impact assessment techniques have been used to independently assess post-development impacts of mining on six communities in the Bowen Basin in Queensland, following the boom in coal prices between 2003 and 2008. The communities are similar in that they all have at least one mine in the vicinity and have more male than female residents but they differ in town histories, and the size plus growth rate of both their permanent and temporary populations. While the mining boom has been generating social and economic impacts, the pattern of the impacts appears to vary across communities depending on the size of the impact, community structure and history, and the extent to which a non-resident workforce is involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation auctions are typically framed as closed, discriminatory, single round, first-price auctions, and are based on the assumption that landholders will offer bids determined by their “independent private values.” Where landholders are unfamiliar with conservation tender processes and the supply of environmental services, they may find it very difficult to construct bids in this way. Bid values may be influenced by other factors, such as concerns about “winner's curse,” a desire to capture economic rent, and premiums for risk and uncertainty factors. Sealed, single round auctions may exacerbate information gaps and uncertainty factors because of the limited information flows compared to traditional market exchanges and open, ascending auctions. In this paper, the cost efficiencies of a multiple bidding round auction for landholder management actions are explored with the use of field experiments and a conservation auction. The case study application is improved grazing management in a rangeland area of Australia, where landholders are unfamiliar with supplying environmental services or conservation auctions. Results suggest that multiple round auctions may be associated with efficiency gains, particularly in initial rounds. Les enchères pour la conservation sont généralement des enchères au premier prix, à un tour, discriminatoires et par offre écrite. Elles reposent sur l’hypothèque que les offres des propriétaires fonciers refléteront leur ≪valeur privée≫. Lorsque les propriétaires fonciers ne sont pas familiers avec les processus d’enchères pour la conservation et la prestation de services environnementaux, ils peuvent éprouver de la difficultéà attribuer une valeur à leur offre. Cette valeur peut-être influencée par d’autres facteurs, tels que la crainte de la ≪malédiction du vainqueur ≫, le désir de réaliser une rente économique, les primes de risque et les facteurs d’incertitude. Les enchères scellées à un tour peuvent aggraver le manque d’information et les facteurs d’incertitude étant donné que les enchérisseurs disposent de peu d’information comparativement aux enchères ascendantes ouvertes traditionnelles. Dans le présent article, nous avons examiné, à l’aide d’expériences sur le terrain et d’enchères pour la conservation, l’efficacité-coût d’une enchère à tours multiples pour des mesures de gestion de la part de propriétaires fonciers. L’exercice visait à améliorer la gestion des pâturages d’un parcours naturel en Australie, où les propriétaires fonciers ne sont pas familiers avec la prestation de services environnementaux ni avec les enchères pour la conservation. Les résultats autorisent à penser que les enchères à tours multiples pourraient offrir des gains d’efficience, particulièrement durant les premiers tours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers are often interested in transferring non-market estimates of environmental values from a ‘source’ study to predict economic values at a ‘target’ site. While most applications of the benefit transfer process involve an opportunistic search for suitable source studies, there are some examples available of more systematic approaches to developing a framework of values for benefit transfer processes. A key issue in developing such a framework is to deal with adjustment factors, where value estimates might vary systematically according to the context of the trade-offs. Previous research has identified that large differences in scope, such as between national and regional contexts, do affect values and hence benefit transfer. The research reported in this paper indicates that such differences are not significant for smaller scope variations, such as between state and regional contexts. These results provide some promise that systematic databases for benefit transfer can be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, estimates of value for recreational fishing are reported for three major freshwater impoundments in Queensland, Australia, using both travel cost and contingent valuation methods. Policy analysts often require estimates of value when analysing the importance of recreation against other uses of impoundments, or when considering the potential for further investments, such as with fish stocking programs. Different forms of the travel cost method are used to estimate separate consumer surpluses associated with two key subgroups of recreational anglers: frequent and occasional anglers. A contingent valuation study is used to estimate the marginal values associated with a potential improvement in fishing experience. The results of the travel cost analysis provide strong evidence that recreational values vary between different groups of anglers and across sites, while the contingent valuation estimates provide values for additional marginal benefits of recreational angling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]