Designing a welfare maximising water tariff for Durban with Ramsey pricing principles.

Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.A water supply tariff is a powerful water management tool that can be used to promote a number of economic, environmental and social-political objectives. In South Africa, increasing block tariffs are deemed to satisfy the domestic tariff regulations of the Water Services Act of 1997. The regulations require that the tariff supports the viability and sustainability of water supply services to the poor and discourages wasteful or inefficient water use. The application of increasing block tariff structures presents a number of problems. The main issue being the size and price of each block. Ramsey pricing proposes that consumer welfare is maximised when the mark-up in price above cost of a good is proportional to the price elasticity of demand of the good. This principle was applied in setting the block prices of an increasing block water tariff. The sizes of the blocks were based on the average water consumption of low, middle and high income consumers. The water demand characteristic of low, middle and high income households from a sample of domestic consumers in Durban were investigated. The water demand functions and price elasticity of demand for the three groups were estimated using econometric models. Two tariff structures based on Ramsey pricing principles were proposed and compared with the current increasing block tariff applied in Durban. The frequency distribution of demand of each of the three consumer groups were applied in a model to ensure the proposed tariffs met a certain revenue target. The water demand functions of each of the consumer groups were used to model how the proposed tariff structures impacted consumer surplus and water demand. The investigation found that increasing block tariffs designed with Ramsey pricing principles have a positive impact on social welfare, provide sufficient revenue for water service providers and support the conservation of water resources

Sexualisation, or the queer feminist provocations of Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus has increasingly occupied debates at the centre of feminist engagements with popular culture. Evoking concerns around young women and ‘sexualisation’, Cyrus emerges as a convergent signifier of sexualised media content and the girl-at-risk. As Cyrus is repeatedly invoked in these debates, she comes to function as the bad object of young femininity. Arguing, however, that Cyrus troubles the sexualisation thesis in the provocations of her creative practice, I suggest that this contested media figure exceeds the frames through which she is read. Thus, I ask: what kinds of insights might be possible if we were to transform the terms on which we approach this figure? Considering a selection of the images and performances that constitute the Cyrus archive, this article proposes a reading of Cyrus as performative provocation. Mobilising an existing sensibility of queer feminist struggle, Cyrus emerges as a disruptive, albeit contradictory, figure. Questions of privilege, limit and possibility emerge in this discussion, as well as what constitutes feminist struggle

Estimating the Worldwide Extent of Illegal Fishing

Illegal and unreported fishing contributes to overexploitation of fish stocks and is a hindrance to the recovery of fish populations and ecosystems. This study is the first to undertake a world-wide analysis of illegal and unreported fishing. Reviewing the situation in 54 countries and on the high seas, we estimate that lower and upper estimates of the total value of current illegal and unreported fishing losses worldwide are between $10 bn and$23.5 bn annually, representing between 11 and 26 million tonnes. Our data are of sufficient resolution to detect regional differences in the level and trend of illegal fishing over the last 20 years, and we can report a significant correlation between governance and the level of illegal fishing. Developing countries are most at risk from illegal fishing, with total estimated catches in West Africa being 40% higher than reported catches. Such levels of exploitation severely hamper the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. Although there have been some successes in reducing the level of illegal fishing in some areas, these developments are relatively recent and follow growing international focus on the problem. This paper provides the baseline against which successful action to curb illegal fishing can be judged