The 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident

The nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in 1986 is described and a summary of its immediate effects on people and the environment outlined. Then there is a summary of the important parts of the literature on diseases and deaths resulting from radiation and mortalities to date and the way mortality data became increasingly conservative over the years is discussed. Today, there is still uncertainty about future mortalities dues to long latency periods for many cancers however cancer deaths in Chernobyl affected regions are expected to be similar to non-Chernobyl controls. The major literature on environmental effects on wild species, forests, water and agricultural land are then reported with a brief discussion of remediation work and of current trends. Finally, contemporary perceptions of the Chernobyl accident are described in the context of popular anti-nuclear sentiment that prevailed in 1986, the immense publicity surrounding the accident and the natural tendency of people to exaggerate prospects of unlikely, yet extreme, events.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Potential demand for hedging by Australian wheat producers

The potential for hedging Australian wheat with the new Sydney Futures Exchange wheat contract is examined using a theoretical hedging model parametised from previous studies. The optimal hedging ratio for an `average' wheat farmer was found to be zero under reasonable assumptions about transaction costs and based on previously published measures of risk aversion. The estimated optimal hedging ratios were found by simulation to be quite sensitive to assumptions about the degree of risk aversion. If farmers are significantly more risk averse than is currently believed, then there is likely to be an active interest in the new futures market.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,

Postmodern synergistic knowledge creation:Extending the boundaries of disability studies

The tensions between the competing discourses of the medical and the social models of disability have traditionally provided a platform for discussion and research in the fields of disability studies and special needs education. Over the last 30 years a wealth of literature has consolidated the debate and produced particular knowledge of impairment and disability. In this paper we argue that by privileging notions of 'deficit' within these medical or social model perspectives the richness of the lived experience of people with impairments is denied. The individual becomes lost within a framework of medical symptoms or social inequalities. This paper considers alternative approaches which reveal a fuller picture of the lives of people with impairments. The authors conducted two separate empirical studies, one employing a Deleuzo-Guattarian perspective, the other a Bourdieusian perspective. In this paper we illustrate how these theories of practice can reveal situated understandings of the individual with impairments and his/her daily life. By embracing new understandings and different theoretical perspectives we show how new knowledge can emerge to illuminate the fluid and ever-changing notions of 'disability', 'inclusion' and 'exclusion', which form elements of the individual lived experience of the research participants

A Positivist Approach to Pigouvian Taxes based on an Evolutionary Algorithm

Pigouvian tax, pollution tax, genetic algorithm, political preferences, Environmental Economics and Policy, Political Economy,

A genetic algorithm approach to farm investment

Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

Willingness to Pay for Weather Derivatives by Australian Wheat Farmers

A theoretical optimal hedging model is developed to determine potential demand from Australian farmers for a hedging tool to remove the economic consequences of climate related variability in wheat yield. In the past, financial instruments have been developed to hedge price risk on capital markets; however, in more recent times new financial instruments, weather derivatives, have been developing that hedge the volumetric risk associated with unfavourable weather. Weather derivatives have the ability to effectively hedge weather related volume risk for the agricultural, mining, energy and manufacturing industries, while also providing a risk management tool for construction firms and special events organisers, although there are still many hurdles to implementing agricultural weather derivative contracts in Australia. The optimal hedging ratio is found to be quite sensitive to the degree of risk aversion of the farmer and to the cost of obtaining the contracts.weather derivatives, risk, hedging, wheat, Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

Evaluation of a Hybrid Seed Contract Between Smallholders and an MNC in East Java, Indonesia

Three hundred smallholders near Malang in East Java were surveyed of whom 150 were participating in a hybrid seed contract with Pioneer Hybrid International Inc, an American MNC that has been contracting in the area since 1986. The objectives of the study were to determine whether the contract improved the welfare of those who participated and, if participation did improve welfare, to evaluate why this contract, in contrast to many other farm contracts in developing countries, is successful. A transaction cost framework was used to specify a framework for probit analysis of contract participation and regression analysis used to measure the contribution made by contract participation to gross margins. The empirical results suggest (i) contract selection was by Pioneer and not through self-selection, (ii) the contract is likely to favour larger farmers and (iii) the Pioneer contract improved returns to farm capital and hence was likely to be welfare improving for contractors. The success of the contract over many years was attributed to the nature of the contracting process which was between Pioneer and grower groups and not at the individual smallholder level.Farm Management,

Book reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Book Reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Book reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,