Tariff protection and politics : Castlemaine 1870-1901

This study, set within the contextual background of Victorian politics, ‘seeks to identify the economic, political and social implications of tariff protection for the Castlemaine region from 1870-1901. The introduction of the Victorian tariff in 1865 precipitated a reversal of earlier attitudes towards protection by politicians and their constituents. Reasons are sought for changes in the perceptions of the Castlemaine electorate and its political representatives towards the tariff between 1870 and Federation. An examination has been made of the role of the tariff in the creation of employment in the region’s primary and secondary industries together with its influence on politicians, primary and secondary industry leaders and workers. Also explored is the relative impact of the tariff on the economic performance of Castlemaine industries, whether producing for export or domestic markets.

Metamorphosis of a gold town : Stawell 1900-1940 : a study in local history

Examines the experience of the Wimmera town of Stawell as being representative of the early settlements created by gold rushes, and then threatened with extinction as the industry declined. Attention is paid to the role of community in Stawell's struggle to survive in the period between Federation and the Second World War. Reviews the economic and social processes involved in the eventual recovery. Argues that the forces of Stawell's historical legacy can be detected in the town's reaction to adversity after the closure of the last major mine in 1920.

Boom and bust in the Latrobe Valley

This thesis argues for the needs of the individual rather than a nationally imposed curriculum that does not take into account the needs of local communities suffering economic dislocation. Educational and socio-economic change are parallel narratives throughout the thesis.

The psychological and economic factors that influence energy consumption habits of low-income earners

Social marketers and governments have often targeted hard to reach or vulnerable groups (Gordon et al., 2006) such as young adults and low income earners. Past research has shown that low-income earners are often at risk of poor health outcomes and diminished lifestyle (Hampson et al., 2009; Scott et al., 2012). Young adults (aged 18 to 35) are in a transition phase of their life where lifestyle preferences are still being formed and are thus a useful target for long-term sustainable change. An area of focus for all levels of government is the use of energy with an aim to reduce consumption. There is little research to date that combines both of these groups and in particular in the context of household energy usage. Research into financially disadvantaged consumers is challenging the notion that that low income consumer purchasing and usage of products and services is based upon economic status (Sharma et al., 2012). Prior research shows higher income earners view items such as televisions and computers as necessities rather than non-essential (Karlsson et al., 2004). Consistent with this is growing evidence that low income earners purchase non-essential, energy intensive electronic appliances such as multiple big screen TV sets and additional refrigerators. With this in mind, there is a need for knowledge about how psychological and economic factors influence the energy consumption habits (e.g. appliances on standby power, leaving appliances turned on, running multiple devices at one time) of low income earners. Thus, our study sought to address the research question of: What are the factors that influence young adult low-income earners energy habits?

The economic consequences of corporate financial reporting on Twitter

The use of social media has spread into many different areas including marketing, customer service, and corporate disclosure. However, our understanding of the timely effect of financial reporting information on Twitter is still limited. In this paper, we examine the timely effect of financial reporting information on Twitter in the Australian context, as reflected in the follow-up stock market reaction. With the use of event methodology and comparative setting, we find that financial reporting disclosure on Twitter reduces the information asymmetry level. This is evidenced by reduction of bid-ask spread and increase of share trading volume. The results of this study imply that financial reporting disclosure on social media assists the dissemination of information and the stock market response to this information

United States of America : economic and commercial conditions in the United States of America

Mode of access: Internet.

ECONOMIC PROFITABILITY OF THE BAKKEN, NORTH DAKOTA UNCONVENTIONAL OIL PLAYS BASED ON A TYPICAL WELL PERFORMANCE WITH CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS

Increases in oil prices after the economic recession have been surprising for domestic oil production in the United States since the beginning of 2009. Not only did the conventional oil extraction increase, but unconventional oil production and exploration also improved greatly with the favorable economic conditions. This favorable economy encourages companies to invest in new reservoirs and technological developments. Recently, enhanced drilling techniques including hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have been supporting the domestic economy by way of unconventional shale and tight oil from various U.S. locations. One of the main contributors to this oil boom is the unconventional oil production from the North Dakota Bakken field. Horizontal drilling has increased oil production in the Bakken field, but the economic issues of unconventional oil extraction are still debatable due to volatile oil prices, high decline rates of production, a limited production period, high production costs, and lack of transportation. The economic profitability and viability of the unconventional oil play in the North Dakota Bakken was tested with an economic analysis of average Bakken unconventional well features. Scenario analysis demonstrated that a typical North Dakota Bakken unconventional oil well is profitable and viable as shown by three financial metrics; net present value, internal rate of return, and break-even prices.

Common And Endangered Species: How Does Society Allocate Support For Their Conservation

Examines how society allocates support for species’ conservation when numbers involved are large and resources are limited. Rational behaviour suggests that species in urgent need of conservation will receive more support than those species that are common. However, we demonstrate that in the absence of balanced knowledge common species will receive support more than they would otherwise receive despite society placing high existence values on all species. Twenty four species, both common and endangered and some with a restricted distribution, are examined. We demonstrate that balanced information is vital in order to direct more support for species that are endangered than those that are not. Implications for conservation stemming from the findings are discussed.

Evaluation of accessibility for knowledge-based cities

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to develop a framework for evaluation of accessibility for knowledge based cities. ----- ----- Design/methodology/approach: This approach notifies common mistakes and problems in accessibility assessment for knowledge cities. ----- ----- Originality/value: Accessibility plays a key role in transport sustainability and recognizes the crucial links between transport and sustainable goals like air quality, environmental resource consumption & social equity. In knowledge cities, accessibility has significant effects on quality of life and social equity by improving the mobility of people and goods. Accessibility also influences patterns of growth and economic health by providing access to land. Accessibility is not only one of the components of knowledge cities but also affects other elements of knowledge cities directly or indirectly. ----- ----- Practical implications: The outcomes of the application will be helpful for developing particular methodologies for evaluating knowledge cities. On other words, this methodology attempts to develop an assessment procedure for examining accessibility of knowledge-based cities.

Australian consumers' attitudes about sports sponsorship during an economic downturn

This paper provides an overview of the prevailing attitudes held by Australian residents as they relate to sports sponsorship during a global financial downturn. A survey of 1,158 Australians assessed changes in attitudes from 2008 to 2009; then it addressed issues specific to the economic conditions of 2009. In general, Australians view sports sponsorship favourably.

Project managers and technical change : curriculum development in strategic technology management

Traditional business approaches do not take account of the rapid technological developments underpinning today's world. Further understanding the role of technology and its efficient management to build and maintain a competitive edge in business can allow project managers to more successfully manage organisations, and to adapt to and capitalise on, today’s rapidly changing environment. Strategic Technology Management links engineering, science and management principles to identify, choose, and implement the most effective means of attaining compatibility between internal skills and resources of an organisation and its competitive, economic and social environment. This paper reviews the rationale and the development of a new Strategic Technology Management subject in QUT’s Master of Project Management program. It discusses recent developments in the area of technology management from an international perspective, provides details of the curriculum developed and discusses the experience of completing two years of teaching the new program.

Resource constraints in innovation : the role of bricolage in new venture creation and firm development

The emerging theory of ‘bricolage’ as a resource behaviour represents an attempt to address the central entrepreneurship research problem of making systematic sense of entrepreneurs that sometimes manage to create significant new economic activity under what appears to be severe resource constraints (Baker & Nelson 2005). However, despite growing interest in bricolage there is little large scale empirical evidence about the effectiveness and outcomes of using bricolage processes while developing innovative outcomes in nascent and young firms. In this research we test bricolage using different forms of innovation using data from the Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) project. Our results indicate overall positive results of bricolage with all forms of innovativeness. A discussion of the results and recommended future research is provided.

A socially responsible model of micro-credit delivery to support sustainable community development in emerging economies

Micro-finance, which includes micro-credit as one of its core services, has become an important component of a range of business models – from those that operate on a strictly economic basis to those that come from a philanthropic base, through Non Government Organisations (NGOs). Its success is often measured by the number of loans issued, their size, and the repayment rates. This paper has a dual purpose: to identify whether the models currently used to deliver micro-credit services to the poor are socially responsible and to suggest a new model of delivery that addresses some of the social responsibility issues, while supporting community development. The proposed model is currently being implemented in Beira, the second largest city in Mozambique. Mozambique exhibits many of the characteristics found in other African countries so the model, if successful, may have implications for other poor African nations as well as other developing economies.

Adam Smith's dinner

In 1961, the East German government erected what they claimed was an anti-capitalist barricade. In 1989, this barricade was dismantled by those whom it was supposed to keep apart: the forces it was intended to contain had overwhelmed it. In the aftermath, the victims of Stalinist oppression and the planned economy opted for radical change. Some might have hoped that they would intellectually march resolutely westwards towards the forms of social democracy that had proven so successful in their nearest neighbours – Scandinavia, Germany and Austria – and stop when they had reached a point on the political spectrum with which they felt comfortable, and which worked for them. Unfortunately, they went to the opposite end of political economy. That choice was celebrated by those theorists who wanted our own countries to move in the same direction. Eastern Europe suffered a decline of 50% in its GDP. Much earlier in 1653, Peter Stuyvesant had erected an earth and wooden wall to protect the westernmost settlement of a great commercial nation from those they imagined to be barbarians. In 1699 Stuyvesant’s barrier was dismantled by the British, who replaced it with a street named after the wall. So it came to be that one of the most inconsequential walls in history became one of history’s most famous streets. I am not sure if the Dutch had left some tulip bulbs on either side of the wall, perhaps as a reminder of capitalism’s first bubble, and an inspiration to later bubbles. However, many of the victims of the latest burst bubble are pretty keen to tear down that Wall.1 As in 1989, they want to take action against the guardians of the system that failed them. And the more they suffer, the more likely it is that they will demand radical change, and the more likely that the resulting change will go too far – as seems to have been the case in Eastern Europe after the terminal crisis of communism, and in the majority of democracies that fell in the dozen years following the Great Crash. The current reaction is so strong that some are even wondering what role there will be for markets. I was invited to address a conference in the EU Parliament last November on the topic ‘Capitalism: Quo Vadis?’, where I apologized to the international audience that the topic was posed in a dead European language because the answer to this question is not going to be determined by the west alone. The problems we have been addressing emerged in the west and have affected the rest. However, the answers will not come, solely from the west, and may even come primarily from the south and the east.