The Industrial Organisation of the Australian Agricultural Economics Society
There has recently been much soul searching among US agricultural economists concerning future directions of the American Agricultural Economics Association. In Australia, however, little direct attention has been paid to the Australian Agricultural Economics Society. Utilising an industrial organisation framework, this paper seeks to investigate issues pertaining to the structure, conduct and performance of the Society. To that end, a survey of members was recently undertaken. This information, along with the views of Past Presidents of the Society, minutes of previous Annual General Meetings and student feedback on the future direction of the profession, is used as the main database for the analysis. The results suggest that, while demand for the product mix is generally strong, supply constraints are impinging on the performance of the Society. Alternative approaches to overcoming these constraints are explored.
A path analysis approach in investigating the performance of the Greek fisheries market
Abstract The present study attempts to empirically investigate the main factors affecting market performance in the Greek fisheries industry, through the implementation of the Structure–Conduct and Performance methodological framework. Primary data were collected from Greek fisheries firms through personal interviews and analyzed embodying the path analysis modeling approach. Two possible relationships have been investigated: the causal relationship of industry structure on firm conduct and the causal relationship of industry structure and firm conduct, on market performance. Results reveal that firm conduct is influenced by industry structure and both affect either directly or indirectly the market performance. Specifically, the most important determinants directly affecting the market performance are quality assurance and competitive advantage, while the international competition and the Common Fisheries Policy Measures cause indirect effects. Regarding the estimations of the total effects, findings demonstrate that the industry structure has greater impact on market performance, than the firm conduct.
Deliberative Democracy and the Resource Curse: A Nationwide Experiment in Tanzania
Oil and gas discoveries in developing countries are often associated with short-sighted economic policies and, in response, calls to insulate resource management from populist impulses. We report on a randomized experiment testing methods to overcome this apparent tension between sound resource governance and democratic politics. Soon after Tanzania’s discovery of major natural gas reserves, we invited a nationally representative sample of voters to an intensive public deliberation of policy options featuring nationally recognized experts and small-group discussions. Democratic deliberation reinforced the public’s strong preference for rapid spending of gas revenues, but also increased support for various prudential and economically orthodox measures, including independent oversight of gas revenues, limits on government borrowing, and selling gas abroad rather than subsidizing fuel at home. These effects were driven by deliberation per se, rather than a pure information treatment, and show no evidence of contamination by facilitatoror peer-effects in group deliberations. www.cgdev.org Justin Sandefur, Nancy Birdsall, James Fishkin, and Mujobu Moyo