Micro-economic drivers of profitability in an ITQ-managed fishery: An analysis of the Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery

An economic survey of the commercial operators currently active in the Queensland Coral Reef Fin-Fish Fishery has been carried out, as part of a research project aimed at evaluating alternative management options for this fishery. This paper presents the background analysis used as a basis to develop the sampling design for this survey. The background analysis focuses on activity patterns of the fleet based on effort and catch information, as well as patterns of quota ownership. Based on this information, a fishing business profile describing the micro-economic structure of fishing operations is developed. This profile, in conjunction with the qualitative information gained in undertaking the economic surveys, allows preliminary understanding of the key drivers of profitability in the CRFFF, and possible impacts of external factors on fishing operations.

Economic consideration for reducing hospital presentations among patients with decompensated cirrhosis: not all presentations avoided can be considered equal

Individuals with decompensated cirrhosis and ascites requiring paracentesis utilize exceptionally high levels of hospital resources. Consequently, potential modifications to existing models of healthcare to assist patients in the management of their liver disease and reduce the need for hospital encounters have potential to improve patients’ health and reduce demand on acute hospital services. However, there is a paucity of data examining how much healthcare resources could be re-directed to interventions that prevent hospitalizations without net annual budgetary disadvantage (from the hospital’s perspective). The purpose of this study was to probabilistically examine how much healthcare resourcing could be saved per hospital presentation avoided among this clinical population.

Richard Cohen Associates records, undated, 1961-1999.

Contains primarily press releases and news clippings produced and collected by the public relations firm that served a wide diverse range of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, American Zionist Movement, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Material documents almost every significant event in contemporary Jewish history; focusing primarily on events occurring in Israel, United states, and Russia. Among the areas of interest include Jewish homosexual rights, disabled rights, Orthodox feminism, African-American and Jewish relations, interfaith relations, Holocuast remembrance, and the marketing of Jewish filmmakers, writers, sculptors, painters, and musicians.

The need for speed: Timely prevention of the dispersal of noxious weeds in relief fodder using efficient sampling procedures

Invasive and noxious weeds are well known as a pervasive problem, imposing significant economic burdens on all areas of agriculture. Whilst there are multiple possible pathways of weed dispersal in this industry, of particular interest to this discussion is the unintended dispersal of weed seeds within fodder. During periods of drought or following natural disasters such as wild fire or flood, there arises the urgent need for 'relief' fodder to ensure survival and recovery of livestock. In emergency situations, relief fodder may be sourced from widely dispersed geographic regions, and some of these regions may be invaded by an extensive variety of weeds that are both exotic and detrimental to the intended destination for the fodder. Pasture hay is a common source of relief fodder and it typically consists of a mixture of grassy and broadleaf species that may include noxious weeds. When required urgently, pasture hay for relief fodder can be cut, baled, and transported over long distances in a short period of time, with little opportunity for prebaling inspection. It appears that, at the present time, there has been little effort towards rapid testing of bales, post-baling, for the presence of noxious weeds, as a measure to prevent dispersal of seeds. Published studies have relied on the analysis of relatively small numbers of bales, tested to destruction, in order to reveal seed species for identification and enumeration. The development of faster, more reliable, and non-destructive sampling methods is essential to increase the fodder industry's capacity to prevent the dispersal of noxious weeds to previously unaffected locales.

Lt. Colonel Rachel (Rae) Diane Landy papers undated, 1913-2000

Rachel Diane Landy Papers consist of correspondence, reminiscences, legal documents, journal, newspaper and magazine articles and color Xerox copies of photographs as well as original photographs. This collection is of value to researchers studying the history of Hadassah and the living conditions and state of medical care in Palestine during the second decade of the 20th century. It is also of interest to researchers studying women in America during the first half of the 20th century who were able to pursue a challenging and productive career and become a leader and innovator in their chosen field. In addition it will be of interest to those researching the graduates of the Cleveland public and professional schools at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, and the Cleveland Jewish community and the George Crile U.S. Army Hospital in Cleveland during the 1940's.

Reconfiguring agriculture through the relocation of production systems for water, environment and food security under climate change

The prospect of climate change has revived both fears of food insecurity and its corollary, market opportunities for agricultural production. In Australia, with its long history of state-sponsored agricultural development, there is renewed interest in the agricultural development of tropical and sub-tropical northern regions. Climate projections suggest that there will be less water available to the main irrigation systems of the eastern central and southern regions of Australia, while net rainfall could be sustained or even increase in the northern areas. Hence, there could be more intensive use of northern agricultural areas, with the relocation of some production of economically important commodities such as vegetables, rice and cotton. The problem is that the expansion of cropping in northern Australia has been constrained by agronomic and economic considerations. The present paper examines the economics, at both farm and regional level, of relocating some cotton production from the east-central irrigation areas to the north where there is an existing irrigation scheme together with some industry and individual interest in such relocation. Integrated modelling and expert knowledge are used to examine this example of prospective climate change adaptation. Farm-level simulations show that without adaptation, overall gross margins will decrease under a combination of climate change and reduction in water availability. A dynamic regional Computable General Equilibrium model is used to explore two scenarios of relocating cotton production from south east Queensland, to sugar-dominated areas in northern Queensland. Overall, an increase in real economic output and real income was realized when some cotton production was relocated to sugar cane fallow land/new land. There were, however, large negative effects on regional economies where cotton production displaced sugar cane. It is concluded that even excluding the agronomic uncertainties, which are not examined here, there is unlikely to be significant market-driven relocation of cotton production.

Strategic tillage in no-till farming systems in Australia’s northern grains-growing regions: I. Drivers and implementation

Development of no-tillage (NT) farming has revolutionized agricultural systems by allowing growers to manage greater areas of land with reduced energy, labour and machinery inputs to control erosion, improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emission. However, NT farming systems have resulted in a build-up of herbicide-resistant weeds, an increased incidence of soil- and stubble-borne diseases and enrichment of nutrients and carbon near the soil surface. Consequently, there is an increased interest in the use of an occasional tillage (termed strategic tillage, ST) to address such emerging constraints in otherwise-NT farming systems. Decisions around ST uses will depend upon the specific issues present on the individual field or farm, and profitability and effectiveness of available options for management. This paper explores some of the issues with the implementation of ST in NT farming systems. The impact of contrasting soil properties, the timing of the tillage and the prevailing climate exert a strong influence on the success of ST. Decisions around timing of tillage are very complex and depend on the interactions between soil water content and the purpose for which the ST is intended. The soil needs to be at the right water content before executing any tillage, while the objective of the ST will influence the frequency and type of tillage implement used. The use of ST in long-term NT systems will depend on factors associated with system costs and profitability, soil health and environmental impacts. For many farmers maintaining farm profitability is a priority, so economic considerations are likely to be a primary factor dictating adoption. However, impacts on soil health and environment, especially the risk of erosion and the loss of soil carbon, will also influence a grower’s choice to adopt ST, as will the impact on soil moisture reserves in rainfed cropping systems.

Carbon dioxide emissions in the short run: The rate and sources of economic growth matter

This paper investigates the short-run effects of economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement for 189 countries over the period 1961-2010. Contrary to what has previously been reported, we conclude that there is no strong evidence that the emissions-income elasticity is larger during individual years of economic expansion as compared to recession. Significant evidence of asymmetry emerges when effects over longer periods are considered. We find that economic growth tends to increase emissions not only in the same year, but also in subsequent years. Delayed effects - especially noticeable in the road transport sector - mean that emissions tend to grow more quickly after booms and more slowly after recessions. Emissions are more sensitive to fluctuations in industrial value added than agricultural value added, with services being an intermediate case. On the expenditure side, growth in consumption and growth in investment have similar implications for national emissions. External shocks have a relatively large emissions impact, and the short-run emissions-income elasticity does not appear to decline as incomes increase. Economic growth and emissions have been more tightly linked in fossil-fuel rich countries.

Information technology and its changing roles to economic growth and productivity in Australia

In this paper we describe our investigation of the role of investment in information technology (IT) on economic output and productivity in Australia over a period of about four decades. The framework used in this paper is the aggregate production function, where IT capital is considered as a separate input of production along with non-IT capital and labour. The empirical results from the study indicate the evidence of robust technical progress in the Australian economy in the 1990s. IT capital had a significant impact on output, labour productivity and technical progress in the 1990s. In recent years, however, the contribution of IT capital on output and labour productivity has slowed down. Regaining the IT capital productivity therefore remains as a key challenge for Australia, especially in the context of greater IT investment in the future.

The long-run impact of Information and Communication Technology on economic output: The case of Australia

This paper investigates the cointegration and causal relationships between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and economic output in Australia using data for about five decades. The framework used in this paper is the single-sector aggregate production function, which is the first comprehensive approach of this kind to include ICT and non-ICT capital and other factors to examine long-run Granger causality. The empirical evidence points to a cointegration relationship between ICT capital and output, and implies that ICT capital Granger causes economic output and multifactor productivity, as does non-ICT capital.

Can technology provide a glimmer of hope for economic growth in the midst of chaos? A case of Zimbabwe

In this paper we examine the effect of technology on economic growth in Zimbabwe over the period 1975–2014 whilst accounting for structural breaks. We use the extended Cobb–Douglas type Solow (Q J Econ 70(1):65–94, 1956) framework and the ARDL bounds procedure to examine cointegration and short run and long run effects. Using unit root tests, we note that structural changes in Zimbabwe are generally marked by the period 1982 onwards. We find that mobile technology has a positive short-run (0.09 %) and long-run (0.08 %) impact on the output per capita. The structural changes post-1982 periods show positive impact in the short-run (0.06) and the long-run (0.09), whereas the coefficient of trend in the short-run (−0.03) and the long-run (−0.04) is negative. The Granger non-causality test shows a unidirectional causality from capital stock (investment) per capita to output per capita and a bi-directional causality between mobile cellular technology and output per capita. The plausible reasons for estimated magnitude effects and the direction of causality are explained for policy deliberation.

The economic consequences of 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 propose to examine the timely effect of financial reporting information on Twitter in Australian context, as reflect in the stock market trading. We aim to find out whether the level of information asymmetry within the stock market will be reduced, after the introduction of Twitter and the use of Twitter for financial reporting purpose

Accounts of K. K. S. I--Membership, Debts, Bonds and Interest

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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