The economics of credence goods : an experiment on the role of liability, verifiability, reputation and competition

Credence goods markets are characterized by asymmetric information between sellers and consumers that may give rise to inefficiencies, such as under- and overtreatment or market breakdown. We study in a large experiment with 936 participants the determinants for efficiency in credence goods markets. While theory predicts that liability or verifiability yield efficiency, we find that liability has a crucial, but verifiability at best a minor, effect. Allowing sellers to build up reputation has little influence, as predicted. Seller competition drives down prices and yields maximal trade, but does not lead to higher efficiency as long as liability is violated. (JEL D12, D82)

Separating resource rents from intra-marginal rents in fisheries economics survey data

Economic surveys of fisheries are undertaken in several countries as a means of assessing the economic performance of their fisheries. The level of economic profits accruing in the fishery can be estimated from the average economic profits of the boats surveyed. Economic profits consist of two components—resource rent and intra-marginal rent. From a fisheries management perspective, the key indicator of performance is the level of resource rent being generated in the fishery. Consequently, these different components need to be separated out. In this paper, a means of separating out the rent components is identified for a heterogeneous fishery. This is applied to the multi-purpose fleet operating in the English Channel. The paper demonstrates that failing to separate out these two components may result in a misrepresentation of the economic performance of the fishery.

Creative occupations as knowledge practices : innovation and precarity in the creative economy

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (herewith CCI) was established with two simple policy objectives. One was to assess anecdotal and boosterish claims about the growth rates of the creative industries, and hence, to measure the size of the creative industries contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The other was to ascertain the contribution of the creative industries to employment. Preliminary research detailed in Cunningham and Higgs (2009) showed that the existing industrial classifications did not incorporate the terminology of the creative industries, nor did they disaggregate new categories of digital work such as video games. However, we discovered that occupational codes provide a much more fine-grained account of work that would enable us to disaggregate and track economic activity that corresponded to creative industries terminology. Thus was born one major centrepiece of CCI research – the tracking of national occupational codes in pursuit of measuring creative industries policy outcomes. This paper commences with some description of empirical work that investigates creative occupations; however, the real point is to suggest that this type of detailed, occupation-based empirical work has important theoretical potential that has not yet been fully expended (though see Cunningham 2013; Hearn and Bridgstock 2014; Bakhshi, Freeman and Higgs 2013; Hartley and Potts 2014).

Reconsidering media economics: From orthodoxies to heterodoxies

This paper argues the case for closer attention to media economics on the part of media, communications and cultural studies researchers. It points to a plurality of approaches to media economics, that include the mainstream neoclassical school and critical political economy, but also new insights derived from perspectives that are less well-known outside of the economics discipline, such as new institutional economics and evolutionary economics. It applies these frameworks to current debates about the future of public service media (PSM), noting limitations to both ‘market failure’ and citizenship discourses, and identifying challenges relating to institutional governance, public policy and innovation as PSMs worldwide adapt to a digitally convergent media environment.

Geo-economics and considerations on the tourism industry with emphasis on historical cities tourism and ecotourism in Iran

Considering its many potentials in the tourism industry, Iran has constantly been among the leading countries seeking development in this industry. Iran is a country with many attractions in different tourism sections including cultural, urban, and monument tourism, and ancient places as well as ecotourism, and water tourism etc. for tourists. However, Iran has never economically prospered regarding its potentials in this industry as compared to its rivals. Thus, the main objective of this work is to list the main necessities of harnessing economic power and required instruments to fulfill this goal. In addition, the tourism industry is discussed as an important strategy for reaching this power, and the Iranian wildlife is introduced as an intact environment. It is also discussed that what economic benefits are obtained through using this tourism industry. It must be noted that the main emphasis of this work is on urban, monument tourism, ancient places, and ecotourism as a case study in two Iranian provinces. Finally, the required analyses are performed considering the affinity between these two sections and two provinces. Results indicated that while Iran having the highest percent of growth compared to the two other countries active in this area, however this advantage has not significantly affected the GDP in Iran, and Iran has not been able to improve its geo-economic capacity in this area.

Playing Monopoly(TM) with 1st year property economics students

Game playing contributes to the acquisition of required skills and competencies whilst supporting collaboration, communication and problem solving. This project introduced the board game Monopoly CityTM to tie theoretical class room learning with collaborative, play based problem solving.

The Australian Qualifications Framework for bachelor degree in property economics

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) requires every course in Australia to be reviewed and compliant by 2015. This paper compares the difference between AQF level 7 and level 8 and outlines the paradigm shift in course development, improvement and quality assurance. The AQF requires an outcome oriented process which influences the development, monitoring and implementation of AQF courses. Firstly the graduate profile is defined to underscore the direction of the property course development. Required graduate attributes are then defined, together with course learning outcomes. Each unit/subject assessment is then designed to reflect the desired learning outcomes, and then finally the unit/subject content is backfilled. This reverse engineered process will ensure that all students have been taught and assessed on the graduate attributes which will form the graduate profile. Therefore, monitoring the inclusion of learning outcomes on unit/subject level during course restructure and development is crucial to achieve the course learning outcomes. This paper recommends that further evaluation needs to be conducted in the course development phases by involving professional accreditation bodies, industry representatives, students and recent graduates in this course development process. It also discusses challenges for developing an undergraduate property course.

A behavioural economics inquiry into inequality in education: Three empirical essays

This thesis investigates behavioural processes for inequality in education and solutions to mitigate such effects, applying conceptual and methodological insights from behavioural and experimental economics. It explores relative age differences in economic preferences of young individuals, the influence of stereotypes and positive discrimination on performance, and evaluates a program that offers strong encouragement for educational achievement of indigenous high school students.

The effectiveness of meaningful occupation interventions for people living with dementia in residential aged care: A systematic review protocol

Review questions/objective What is the effectiveness of meaningful occupation interventions for people living with dementia in residential aged care facilities? More specifically, the objectives are to identify: The effectiveness of interventions based on engaging residents of residential aged care facilities who have dementia in meaningful occupation (activities that have meaning for the individual) on: quality of life, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (such as agitation, aggression, depression, wandering, apathy, etc.), mood, function, cognition, and sleep. Inclusion criteria Types of participants This review will consider studies that include participants with a confirmed diagnosis of any type of dementia living in residential aged care facilities / long term care/nursing homes/permanent care. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest This review will consider studies that evaluate non-pharmacological interventions that are based on occupational or activity interventions considered to be meaningful to the person with dementia, and tailoring the intervention to meet their needs, abilities, interests and/or preferences will be required as part of the study’s methodology. Such interventions may include reminiscence therapy, exercise therapy, music therapy, individualized activity, behavioral interventions, recreational therapy, diversional therapy and psychosocial interventions. Trials of combinations of two or more such interventions will also be considered. Interventions may be in comparison to usual care, other meaningful occupation interventions, or any other non-pharmacological control or comparator.

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Claims for mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation at the shell matrix site of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, are reassessed through an analysis of the excavated assemblage coupled with new surveys and an extensive dating program. Memmott et al. (2006, pp. 38, 39) reported basal ages of c.5000–5500 years from Wurdukanhan as 'the oldest date yet obtained for any archaeological site on the coast of the southern Gulf of Carpentaria' and used these dates to argue for 'a relatively lengthy occupation since at least the mid-Holocene'. If substantiated, with the exception of western Torres Strait, these claims make Mornington Island the only offshore island used across northern Australia in the mid-Holocene where it is conventionally thought that Aboriginal people only (re)colonised islands after sea-level maximum was achieved after the mid-Holocene. Our analysis of Wurdukanhan demonstrates high shellfish taxa diversity, high rates of natural shell predation and high densities of foraminifera throughout the deposit demonstrating a natural origin for the assemblage. Results are considered in the context of other dated shell matrix sites in the area and a geomorphological model for landscape development of the Sandalwood River catchment.

Environmental context for late Holocene human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia

A 2400 year record of environmental change is reported from a wetland on Bentinck Island in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. Three phases of wetland development are identified, with a protected coastal setting from ca. 2400 to 500 years ago, transitioning into an estuarine mangrove forest from ca. 500 years ago to the 1940s, and finally to a freshwater swamp over the past +60 years. This sequence reflects the influence of falling sea-levels, development of a coastal dune barrier system, prograding shorelines, and an extreme storm (cyclone) event. In addition, there is clear evidence of the impacts that human abandonment and resettlement have on the island's fire regimes and vegetation. A dramatic increase in burning and vegetation thickening was observed after the cessation of traditional Indigenous Kaiadilt fire management practices in the 1940s, and was then reversed when people returned to the island in the 1980s. In terms of the longer context for human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, it is apparent that the mangrove phase provided a stable and productive environment that was conducive for human settlement of this region over the past 1000 years.

Submission to Senate Economics References Committee, An Inquiry in to Affordable Housing

Developer paid fees or infrastructure charges are a commonly used mechanism for local governments to pay for new infrastructure. However, property developers claim that these costs are merely passed on to home buyers, with adverse effects to housing affordability. Despite numerous government reports and many years of industry advocacy, there remains no empirical evidence in Australia to confirm or quantify this passing on effect to home buyers and the consequent effect on housing affordability. Hence there remains no data from which governments can base policy decision on, and the debate continues. This research examines the question of the impact of infrastructure charges on housing affordability in Australia. It employs hedonic regression methods to estimate the impact of infrastructure charges on house prices and vacant lot prices in Brisbane, Australia during 2005-2011, using a data set of 29,752 house sales, comprising 4,699 new house sales and 25,053 existing house sales and 13,739 lot sales. The regression results for the effect of infrastructure charges on house prices in Brisbane indicated that for every $1.00 of infrastructure charge levied on developers, all house prices increase by $3.69 or a 369% overpassing of these government levies onto home buyers. Thus, this one government levy could be responsible for $877 per month on home owner mortgage repayments in Brisbane, Queensland. This research is consistent with international findings, that support the proposition that developer paid infrastructure charges are passed on to home buyers and are a significant contributor to increasing house prices and reduced housing affordability. Understanding who really pays for urban infrastructure is critical to both the housing affordability and infrastructure funding debates in Australia and this research provides the first empirical data for policy makers to assess their policy objectives and outcomes against.

Phylogeographical relationships of Sicilian brown trout and the effects of genetic introgression on morphospace occupation

Genetic introgression of aquaculture stocks in local forms is well documented in many fish species but their evolutionary consequences for the local populations have not been thoroughly explored. Due to its wide geographical range, the existence of many locally adapted forms and the frequent occurrence of introgression of aquaculture stocks in local forms, brown trout represents the ideal system to study the effects of such introgressions. Here, we focus on a group of rivers and streams in Sicily (Italy), and, by using molecular tools, we show that autochthonous populations are probably derived from the Southern Atlantic clade, which is present in the Iberian peninsula and North Africa. Three out of the four studied rivers reveal signs of genetic introgression of domestic stocks. Finally, by using advanced geometric morphometric analyses, we show that genetic introgression produces a higher degree of morphological variability relative to that observed in non-introgressed populations.

The creative fulcrum : Where, how and why the creative workforce is growing

Contrary to the view that the creative workforce is shrinking, a decade of detailed research by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) shows that the number of workers in creative occupations is growing strongly, and that these workers are spread right across the whole economy. Furthermore, these occupations can be thought of as a ‘creative fulcrum’ for innovations that leverage competitiveness in all sectors, and create positive job spirals that stimulate opportunities for many other occupation categories.