Influence of Conservation of Native Vegetation on Land Values in Moree Plains Shire, NSW

The Native Vegetation Conservation Act was introduced on January 1st 1998 to protect native grassland and woodland in New South Wales. The Act has limited clearing of native vegetation and development to crops and pasture, has protected biodiversity, and may have enhanced soil and water conservation. But an analysis of variations in the prices paid for farm land in Moree Plains Shire, with the complementary hedonic and bargaining methods, shows how buyers, sellers, and the market as a whole, value the characteristics of the land. It shows that the Act has led to substantial losses in land values for the farmers. The Act has imposed higher costs on those who had kept most vegetation, and on those who most need to retain their options to clear and develop. Stewardship payments will alleviate the financial situation for some and property plans will provide long-term security for both farmer and vegetation. But the magnitudes of the losses suggest that introduction of individual policies like these must be preceded by a review of the whole strategy of vegetation protection in New South Wales. We must first decide how much to protect and how to allocate the losses in an equitable manner.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Who Pays to Protect Native Vegetation? Costs to Farmers in Moree Plains Shire, New South Wales

The Native Vegetation Conservation Act was introduced on January 1st 1998 to limit the clearing of native grassland and woodland in NSW. The Act has limited clearing and development to crops, has protected biodiversity, and may have enhanced soil and water conservation. But this analysis of the prices paid for land in Moree Plains Shire shows that the Act has reduced land values by some 21 per cent and has already reduced annual incomes by 10 per cent across the whole Shire. This reduction in annual incomes may well reach 18 per cent by 2005. This decrease in income means that farm households in the Shire currently must give up 15.6 per cent of their household income because they must protect native vegetation on their farms. In contrast, urban households in Australia must give up only 0.55 per cent of one per cent of their income through taxes for the same purpose. The Act has imposed these costs on farmers who are already struggling financially, has made the distribution of income in the community less equal, and has made farm families bear far higher costs than urban families. Do these outcomes enhance an objective of equity, or fairness within the community?native vegetation, opportunity costs, land values, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF NOXIOUS WEEDS, OTHER WEEDS, AND TREE GROWTH, ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE NEW ENGLAND TABLELANDS, NEW SOUTH WALES

The economic impact of weeds on farms in the New England Region of New South Wales is estimated from data from a cross -sectional survey. Weeds can be classed as noxious or declared plants, plants that the farmers perceived as weeds, and trees -- which many farmers also perceived as weeds. Variables were defined for several levels of intensity of infestation for each of these three classes of weeds. The impact of each these variables, on property income and stocking, was estimated through Cobb-Douglas production functions. The presence of very-heavy infestations of non-noxious weeds, and heavy infestations of non-noxious weeds, were found to be associated with reductions in income. In total, the income of the representative property would be increased by 15 per cent, ceteris paribus, if these infestations were removed.Weeds, trees, income, stocking, Farm Management,

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF REGULATIONS TO PRESERVE NATIVE WOODLAND ON PRIVATE PROPERTY: A CASE STUDY IN THE HUNTER VALLEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Australian policies to preserve native vegetation on farms rest on mandatory regulations without compensation, whereas policies in most OECD countries rest on voluntary conservation with compensation. In New South Wales, the Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1998 restricts farmers from clearing native vegetation on their own freehold land, and offers no compensation. The Act may therefore impose opportunity costs, or losses in income, on landholders. These opportunity costs are estimated for a case study property in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, and these results are then generalised to assess the broad trade-offs between development and preservation. The losses in income appear to vary between 5 and 10 per cent of annual income, depending on livestock prices. The flow of these losses over time appears to total some $26m for all properties of this kind in the immediate region. In addition to imposition of these direct opportunity costs, the regulations hinder land sales and so hinder adjustment by landholders to changing conditions.Native vegetation, environmental preservation, opportunity cost., Land Economics/Use,

Diversity and Security in UK Electricity Generation: The Influence of Low Carbon Objectives

We explore the relationship between low carbon objectives and the strategic security of electricity in the context of the UK Electricity System. We consider diversity of fuel source mix to represent one dimension of security - robustness against interruptions of any one source - and apply two different diversity indices to the range of electricity system scenarios produced by the UK government and independent researchers. Using data on wind generation we also consider whether a second dimension of security - the reliability of generation availability - is compromised by intermittency of renewable generation. Our results show that low carbon objectives are uniformly associated with greater long-term diversity in UK electricity. We discuss reasons for this result, explore sensitivities, and briefly discuss possible policy instruments associated with diversity and their limitations.Diversity, Security, Low Carbon, Wind Generation, Electricity

Inverted and mirror repeats in model nucleotide sequences

We analytically and numerically study the probabilistic properties of inverted and mirror repeats in model sequences of nucleic acids. We consider both perfect and non-perfect repeats, i.e. repeats with mismatches and gaps. The considered sequence models are independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) sequences, Markov processes and long range sequences. We show that the number of repeats in correlated sequences is significantly larger than in i.i.d. sequences and that this discrepancy increases exponentially with the repeat length for long range sequences.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Integrability, localisation and bifurcation of an elastic conducting rod in a uniform magnetic field

The classical problem of the buckling of an elastic rod in a magnetic ¯eld is investigated using modern techniques from dynamical systems theory. The Kirchhoff equations, which describe the static equilibrium equations of a geometrically exact rod under end tension and moment are extended by incorporating the evolution of a fixed external vector (in the direction of the magnetic field) that interacts with the rod via a Lorentz force. The static equilibrium equations (in body cordinates) are found to be noncanonical Hamiltonian equations. The Poisson bracket is generalised and the equilibrium equations found to sit, as the third member, in a family of rod equations in generalised magnetic fields. When the rod is linearly elastic, isotropic, inextensible and unshearable the equations are completely integrable and can be generated by a Lax pair. The isotropic system is reduced using the Casimirs, via the Euler angles, to a four-dimensional canonical system with a first integral provided the magnetic field is not aligned with the force within the rod at any point as the system losses rank. An energy surface is specified, defning three-dimensional flows. Poincare sections then show closed curves. Through Mel'nikov analysis it is shown that for an extensible rod the presence of a magnetic field leads to the transverse intersection of the stable and unstable manifolds and the loss of complete integrability. Consequently, the system admits spatially chaotic solutions and a multiplicity of multimodal homoclinic solutions exist. Poincare sections associated with the loss of integrability are displayed. Homoclinic solutions are computed and post-buckling paths found using continutaion methods. The rods buckle in a Hamiltonian-Hopf bifurcation about a periodic solution. A codimension-two point, which describes a double Hamiltonian-Hopf bifurcation, determines whether straight rods buckle into localised configurations at either two critical values of the magnetic field, a single critical value or do not buckle at all. The codimension-two point is found to be an organising centre for primary and multimodal solutions

Formality and Informality in Cost-Benefit Analysis

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is usually treated as a monolith. In fact, the term can refer to a broad variety of decisionmaking practices, ranging from a qualitative comparison of pros and cons to a highly formalized and technical method grounded in economic theory that monetizes both costs and benefits, discounts to present net value, and locates the point at which the marginal benefits curve crosses the marginal costs curve. This article develops a typology that helps to conceptualize the multiple varieties of CBA along a formality-informality spectrum. It then uses this typology to analyze the treatment of CBA by the academic community and the three branches of the federal government. In academic and policy circles, the formal end of this spectrum generates far more controversy than the informal end. Additionally, the law (federal environmental statutes and case law) seems to favor informal over formal varieties of CBA. Nonetheless, the executive branch appears to be moving toward the formal end of the spectrum. Executive Orders and guidance documents direct agencies to conduct a highly formal mode of CBA. And anecdotal evidence suggests that agencies often go out of their way to give their CBAs the trappings of formality, sometimes in ways that lead to irrational results. I argue that 1) failing to distinguish between formal and informal CBA, and the many varieties in between, has led to muddled thinking and to misuses of CBA; and 2) the trend toward formality in the executive branch is out of step with Congress and the courts and may be counterproductive, where, for example, it leads to what I call “false formality”—a corruption of CBA that can occur when agencies fail to clearly and consistently define where on the formality-informality spectrum a particular CBA falls