Construction of utility functions from observations of consumer behaviour with application to resource modelling and water management strategies. The optimisation techniques developed will be on the forefront of applied mathematical sciences and will increase the prestige of the Australian mathematical community. The expected results will also be of value because they can be used to improve the CGE modelling technique. The implementation of the CGE model of one of Victoria's agricultural regions ....Construction of utility functions from observations of consumer behaviour with application to resource modelling and water management strategies. The optimisation techniques developed will be on the forefront of applied mathematical sciences and will increase the prestige of the Australian mathematical community. The expected results will also be of value because they can be used to improve the CGE modelling technique. The implementation of the CGE model of one of Victoria's agricultural regions will be used to improve the accuracy of regional economic models and will contribute to efficient regional resource management. This has the potential to positively affect the economic growth and employment in the region. The expected outcomes of the project are especially important taking into account the need for predicting the socio-economic consequences of the 1994 COAG water reforms. Read moreRead less
Identification Power and Instrument Strength in Discrete Outcome Models. This project aims to develop new econometric and statistical techniques to quantify causal effects in treatment models with discrete outcomes. Expected outcomes include a much-needed weak instrument test, a measure for identification strength in partial identification setting, and an instrument-covariate selection procedure for high dimensional discrete models based identification power. The benefits include advanced knowle ....Identification Power and Instrument Strength in Discrete Outcome Models. This project aims to develop new econometric and statistical techniques to quantify causal effects in treatment models with discrete outcomes. Expected outcomes include a much-needed weak instrument test, a measure for identification strength in partial identification setting, and an instrument-covariate selection procedure for high dimensional discrete models based identification power. The benefits include advanced knowledge in econometrics and statistics, and enhanced tools for program evaluation and policy assessment in empirical causal analysis using observational data. The project falls into the category of smarter information use and is relevant to any national priority areas where policy interventions require assessment.Read moreRead less
Selection of mixed strength moment restrictions and optimal inference . This project aims to develop consistent model selection criteria even if the target model only provides a weak signal about the parameter of interest. This project expects to generate new knowledge on model selection using new and innovative techniques. Expected outcomes include the quantification of the maximum information on parameter from weak-signal models; new entropy-based model selection criteria; and a robust investi ....Selection of mixed strength moment restrictions and optimal inference . This project aims to develop consistent model selection criteria even if the target model only provides a weak signal about the parameter of interest. This project expects to generate new knowledge on model selection using new and innovative techniques. Expected outcomes include the quantification of the maximum information on parameter from weak-signal models; new entropy-based model selection criteria; and a robust investigation of the still debated hypothesis in environmental economics that with open and liberalized trade, developing countries would become pollution havens for dirty industries of advanced countries. Success in this undertaking will dramatically enlarge the pool of applied work involving economic models with weak signals.Read moreRead less
Consequences of water reform and changing farm adaptation in the Basin. This project aims to evaluate the consequences of, and lessons learned from, the past two decades of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). In particular, it will examine the recent economic and farm consequences of water recovery. Australia is over halfway through implementation of the MDB Plan, and has spent over $6 billion in water recovery to achieve basin-wide resilience, with billions more still committed. Pro ....Consequences of water reform and changing farm adaptation in the Basin. This project aims to evaluate the consequences of, and lessons learned from, the past two decades of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). In particular, it will examine the recent economic and farm consequences of water recovery. Australia is over halfway through implementation of the MDB Plan, and has spent over $6 billion in water recovery to achieve basin-wide resilience, with billions more still committed. Project expected outcomes include pioneering new methods to track how MDB irrigation efficiency, productivity and other farm outcomes have changed as a response to water reform. It will also draw lessons from both national and international case studies to consequently inform more effective water management.Read moreRead less
Impacts of changing water ownership and reforms on Australian water markets. Water markets play a critical role in helping Australia’s food bowl survive periods of severe drought. This project aims to evaluate how the Murray-Darling Basin water markets performed, in terms of the impact of water ownership, and investigate how water reforms have affected rural communities over the past two decades. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding on how different water ownership structures impact ....Impacts of changing water ownership and reforms on Australian water markets. Water markets play a critical role in helping Australia’s food bowl survive periods of severe drought. This project aims to evaluate how the Murray-Darling Basin water markets performed, in terms of the impact of water ownership, and investigate how water reforms have affected rural communities over the past two decades. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding on how different water ownership structures impact price and price volatility of water, market power, economic welfare of water traders, and what social and economic impacts water reforms in the past decades have in the Basin. The findings will provide critical evidence for evaluating future water reforms, building resilient rural communities and safeguarding food security.Read moreRead less
Improving Choice Models: Multiple Goal Pursuit and Multi-Stage Decision Processes. This project aims to develop new econometric models of choice behaviour that recognise individuals adopt “how to decide” strategies when choosing between alternatives. Existing models simplistically assume that people evaluate all goods and choose the best of them, when in fact they ignore some goods, select what information is relevant, pursue multiple goals, and otherwise deviate from the assumptions commonly ma ....Improving Choice Models: Multiple Goal Pursuit and Multi-Stage Decision Processes. This project aims to develop new econometric models of choice behaviour that recognise individuals adopt “how to decide” strategies when choosing between alternatives. Existing models simplistically assume that people evaluate all goods and choose the best of them, when in fact they ignore some goods, select what information is relevant, pursue multiple goals, and otherwise deviate from the assumptions commonly made in econometric models. Filling in this significant gap in the choice modelling literature constitutes a significant contribution to improving our understanding of human decision making and policy analysis in every area of human endeavour.Read moreRead less
Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further ....Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further water market products may increase water market efficiency; and, the nature and sources of transactions costs in markets. Benefits from this project will enhance resilience and adaptation of irrigators to future climate change and water shortages, as well as providing future policy guidance.Read moreRead less
Accounting for preference seperability in stated choice experiments. This project aims to unite three separate streams of applied economic research into a single framework in order to develop a micro-economically consistent framework for demand forecasting and analysis. Forecasting demand to improve product performance or policy impacts requires realistic representations of how humans actually make choices. Combining theories of preference separability with recent developments in both activity a ....Accounting for preference seperability in stated choice experiments. This project aims to unite three separate streams of applied economic research into a single framework in order to develop a micro-economically consistent framework for demand forecasting and analysis. Forecasting demand to improve product performance or policy impacts requires realistic representations of how humans actually make choices. Combining theories of preference separability with recent developments in both activity and time use modelling and stated choice techniques, the project plans to develop new insights into consumer equilibrium as well as new econometric methods to test for the assumption of preference separability. Project outcomes would lead to an improved understanding of consumer behaviour as well as demand forecasting, with benefits to studies involving the need for benefit cost comparisons.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100213
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,000.00
Summary
Optimising the National Benefits From Restoring Environmental Water Flows. The project plans to evaluate strategies that may maximise the national benefits from restoring environmental flows in Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin (MDB). MDB water supply is characterised by prolonged droughts and flood events, and future climatic projections anticipate that these water supply events will intensify. As the uncertainty of future water supply increases, it is important that the volume of water provided ....Optimising the National Benefits From Restoring Environmental Water Flows. The project plans to evaluate strategies that may maximise the national benefits from restoring environmental flows in Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin (MDB). MDB water supply is characterised by prolonged droughts and flood events, and future climatic projections anticipate that these water supply events will intensify. As the uncertainty of future water supply increases, it is important that the volume of water provided by the portfolio of water rights is known. By examining how decision-makers adapt to water supply uncertainty, optimal management strategies could be determined for watering key ecological assets, trading water between irrigators and the government; and private and public investments.Read moreRead less
Price-Setting Rules and Allocative Efficiency in Oligopolies. This project aims to investigate under which circumstances restrictions on how often firms can change prices increase competition in an oligopoly and bring down prices. For this, we propose the use of laboratory experiments with a novel design followed by field experiments and a real price-data analysis for external validation. This study will result in both the advancement of theory describing how firms compete in dynamic oligopolies ....Price-Setting Rules and Allocative Efficiency in Oligopolies. This project aims to investigate under which circumstances restrictions on how often firms can change prices increase competition in an oligopoly and bring down prices. For this, we propose the use of laboratory experiments with a novel design followed by field experiments and a real price-data analysis for external validation. This study will result in both the advancement of theory describing how firms compete in dynamic oligopolies and practical policy advice on how price setting rules can be used to improve consumer welfare. This project has the potential to generate sizable benefits to Australian consumers, as the resulting policy advice would be applicable to large markets such as those for petrol, groceries and online retail.Read moreRead less