Reconciling Value Conflicts in Regional Forest Planning in Australia: A Decision Theoretic Approach

The Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) programme introduced in the 1990s, in Australia to protect environmental values, encourage job creation and growth and manage forests in an ecologically sustainable manner. Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques were used in this study to assess their potential for examining the RFA policy. The empirical study of the North East Victoria RFA using MCDA attempted to explore the potential of these techniques. The results indicate that the old-growth forest is the most valued attribute and timber production appeared important. The most preferred forest land management option was option A with a high level of conservation and low level of native timber extraction which differed from the government option for North East Victoria. This observation highlights the fact that non-incorporation of stakeholder preferences into public decision making in forest management can lead to decisions not acceptable to a majority of stakeholders. The three methods namely AHP, MAVT and MAUT provide similar ranking of options. despite the different theoretical bases of the three MCDA techniques. The major implication of this research is that better forest management policies can be developed if we can incorporate stakeholder preferences explicitly.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A stochastic analysis of goods allocation by queuing and the prevention of violence

When demand for a good exceeds its supply, queuing mechanisms are commonly used to allocate the good in question to citizens. However, very long queues result in excessive wait times and this can lead to violence. As such, the purpose of this paper is to analyze two stochastic models of goods allocation with queuing and the possibility of violence. In the first model, there is no capacity constraint. Using this model, we compute the long run delay per citizen in allocating the pertinent good. Next, we discuss the computation of the equilibrium probabilities for our discrete-time Markov chain theoretic model. In the second model, we capture the violence aspect of the underlying story explicitly with a capacity constraint. Then, we compute the long run fraction of citizens who are not provided the relevant good and the long run fraction of time the good allocating public official is busy.Capacity Constraint, Goods Allocation, Queuing Mechanism, Scarcity, Violence

Determination of yield and erosion damage functions using subjectively elicited data: application to smallholder tea in Sri Lanka

Tea has been Sri Lanka’s major export earner for several decades. However, soil erosion on tea‐producing land has had considerable on‐site and off‐site effects. This study quantifies soil erosion impacts for smallholder tea farms in Sri Lanka by estimating a yield damage function and an erosion damage function using a subjective elicitation technique. The Mitscherlich‐Spillman type of function was found to yield acceptable results. The study indicates that high rates of soil erosion require earlier adoption of soil conservation measures than do low rates of erosion. Sensitivity analysis shows the optimum year to change to a conservation practice is very sensitive to the discount rate but less sensitive to the cost of production and price of tea.Crop Production/Industries,

Determinants of Institutional Success for Water in India: Results from a Study across Three States

There has been substantial focus on water resource development in India, but with emphasis mainly on the technical side. Development of institutions to manage the interactions and arrangements necessary has received little attention. The study uses the new institutional economics framework and governance theories to probe local institutions in water resource management. 29 institutions and 450 households are covered and the data analysed through univariate Anova and multivariate Tobit regressions. The results show the importance of technical, organizational and political governance provided by the institutions. Achievement of efficiency, equity, environment and finance objectives depends substantially on lowering transaction costs through advancing means such as clarity of objectives, good interaction, adaptability, appropriate scale, and compliance.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A stochastic analysis of goods allocation by queuing and the prevention of violence

When demand for a good exceeds its supply, queuing mechanisms are commonly used to allocate the good in question to citizens. However, very long queues result in excessive wait times and this can lead to violence. As such, the purpose of this paper is to analyze two stochastic models of goods allocation with queuing and the possibility of violence. In the first model, there is no capacity constraint. Using this model, we compute the long run delay per citizen in allocating the pertinent good. Next, we discuss the computation of the equilibrium probabilities for our discrete-time Markov chain theoretic model. In the second model, we capture the violence aspect of the underlying story explicitly with a capacity constraint. Then, we compute the long run fraction of citizens who are not provided the relevant good and the long run fraction of time the good allocating public official is busy

Incorporating community objectives in improved wetland management: the use of the analytic hierarchy process

Wetlands in Australia provide considerable ecological, economic, environmental and social benefits. However, the use of wetlands has been indiscriminate and significant damage to many Australian wetlands has occurred. During the last 150 years one third of the wetlands in Victoria have been lost. A conspicuous problem in wetland management is the paucity of involvement by stakeholders. This paper uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to incorporate stakeholder objectives in the &lsquo;Wonga Wetlands&rsquo; on the Murray River. The study shows that the AHP can explicitly incorporate stakeholder preferences and multiple objectives to evaluate management options. The AHP also provides several approaches for policy makers to arrive at policy decisions.<br /

New institutional economics: it\u27s nature, potential and the future

It is generally accepted that institutional problems have severely constrained development in many countries regardless of significant achievements in technology and other reforms. Both the Old and New Institutional Economics have relevance in understanding the lack of progress in many countries in Asia and Africa. Institutions generally refer to the &quot;framework within which human interactions take place. Two major strands of NIE are the transaction costs and the collective action approach. The NIE implies that traditional rural institutions such as user groups, rotating credit and irrigation associations, interlinked credit etc. are institutions that have emerged in place of the market due to lower transactions costs. The successful management of common property resources such as water, forests, wetlands etc using local arrangements imply that institutions need to be interpreted in broader terms and the simple dichotomy of market or the government is too limited to understand the development process. New thinking is required in developing institutions that are structurally suited for management at the local level. Such an approach will have better chance to succeed compared to a process based upon the market.<br /