Researchers have estimated the total economic value of global ecosystem goods and services showing that a significant portion of humanity's economic well being is unaccounted for in conventional GNP accounting (Constanza et al., 1997). To demonstrate this point, authors have conventionally used...

Eco-efficiency has emerged as a management response to waste issues associated with current production processes. Despite the popularity of the term in both business and government circles, limited attention has been paid to measuring and reporting eco-efficiency to government policy makers....

One economic tool that can aid in the achievement of waste minimisation targets is unit-pricing. Unit-pricing in the waste management sector refers to a pricing system that charges households for their collection and disposal service relative to the amount of waste disposed by the household....

Conventional wisdom says that equity concerns are beyond the scope of economic analysis and that achieving equity objectives will often come at a cost in terms of efficiency. Examination of the underlying meaning of efficiency and how it is defined, however, reveals that this tension between...

The greenhouse sector has reinvented itself as a technologically advanced and relatively environmentally friendly industry over the past 15 years. However it remains a high energy user. Two recent surveys have highlighted the potential impact on greenhouse grower costs of the proposed emissions...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) undertakes forecasts and projections of livestock numbers as part of the twice yearly contribution to The Treasury’s economic and fiscal updates. MAF’s Pastoral Supply Response Model (PSRM) was recently re-developed and used for the first time...

Over the period 1991-2003, New Zealand’s milk production more than doubled. At the same time, dairy farming expanded its boundaries into non-traditional dairy production regions. The distribution of regional production is of particular interest because of effects on supply and demand balances...

This research estimates the commercial costs and benefits associated with selected aquaculture projects in the Canterbury region. Mussel farming employment will most likely be generated in coastal communities that at present have few employment opportunities. These communities are likely to...

Previous papers at this conference over the years have dealt with trends in productivity in the total agricultural sector, the forestry sector and the dairy sector. Productivity indexes were developed by the Tornquist methodology that produces index numbers free of base year bias. Sources of...

Previous research indicates a high level of multiple job holding amongst New Zealand farm men and women. Interviews of sixty farm men and women holding multiple jobs in the Ashburton District in 2003 were part of a larger research programme. Respondents identified a wide range of work undertaken...