Averil Cook

Assessing the Use of Flexible Assessment

A course which has a large student enrolment consequently puts a heavy load on instructors both in the presentation and the assessment areas. In the School of Economics at the University of Queensland, this is the case for the quantitative analysis subjects. Assessment for many years has been through mid-semester and end of semester exams, as well as Computer Managed Learning (CML) assignments. In 2000 it was decided to incorporate a system of flexible assessment where neither the CML nor the mid-semester exam was compulsory. The outcomes are assessed and the advantages and disadvantages discussed.

Biodiversity and the Tourism Value of Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve, China: A Travel Cost Approach

The recreational value of an outdoor site is reflected in a visitors willingness to pay for the visit. This can sometimes be estimated using the Travel Cost Methodology (TCM) as the consumer surplus under the site demand curve. Based on a case study of Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve (CMBR) located in Northeast China, this paper focuses on the recreational values of tourism using the TCM and speculates on the extent to which this value depends on the biodiversity present in CMBR.

Economic Evaluation of Proposed Long-Distance Walking Tracks in the Wet Tropics of Queensland

An increasingly popular activity in the Wet Tropics of Queensland is bushwalking, which can provide benefits for both the visitors and the local community. While long-distance tracks--with huts and camp sites for overnight stays--are common in some countries (notably New Zealand), this appears to be an ecotourism opportunity which has been overlooked in North Queensland. A market model can be developed in which the supply (indicated by marginal cost) and demand (community willingness to pay) and efficient pricing for a proposed long-distance walking track are estimated. Where a track does not currently exist, transfer of demand estimates from other tracks and inferences about total market size are required. This paper discusses the economic modelling and estimation issues in evaluation of long-distance walking track proposals in the Wet Tropics of Queensland. Demand estimation (with reference to a visitor survey for the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island) and supply estimation in terms of track development and maintenance costs are examined.

A New Approach to Identifying Structural Development in Economic Systems: The Case of the Queensland Economy

Recently, some economists have come to view economic development as a process of ongoing structural change which has self-organisational features. What is required is evidence concerning the self-organisational character of economic development. In other words, is economic growth associated with growth in the complexity of its structure and with a parallel rise in organisational interdependence? An extended version of qualitative input-output analysis, termed Minimal Flow Analysis (MFA), is used in this paper to analyse the structural linkages and changes that have occurred in the Queensland economy over the last two decades. The MFA evidence confirms that there has been a steady increase in the complexity of the Queensland economy. Economic coordination has occurred, to an increasing extent, through market intermediation. From a self-organisational perspective, it is clear that the Queensland economy has followed a rapid and coherent developmental path, marked by the emergence of bonded structures in its core and increasing complexity on its periphery. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd/University of Adelaide and Flinders University of South Australia

Recreation Value of a New Long-Distance Walking Track

A large recreation value may be expected for a long-distance walking track which allows for hiking and camping in a tropical rainforest environment. When such a resource is new, sufficient data are not available for a primary study. A practical way to obtain a value estimate is by employing benefit transfer procedures. Using a travel cost analysis for the Thorsborne Trail as the transfer source, a consumer surplus estimate for the new Cannabullen Track was estimated at about Aus

Community service obligations and their implications

300 per person per year. This value may contribute to management decisions about further development of facilities along the track and about user fees.

Estimation of community values of lakes: A study of Lake Mokoan in Victoria, Australia: A comment

In Australia, Government Business Enterprises (GBEs) are in the process of review so that they may eventually be run on commercial lines in a competitive environment. Some of the services that are provided, particularly by the monopolistic utilities, are non‐commercial but are required under various governments’ social policies. The GBEs that can identify and cost these community service obligations can be recompensed from the budget. The problems and benefits of the identification, costing and funding processes are discussed as well as some concerns raised by the corporatisation process.

The recreational value of Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island: an application of the travel cost method.

Herath in Vol 29, No 1 (1999) reports welfare estimates using two forms of travel cost methodology (zonal and individual) as well as contingent valuation methodology. This note examines: (a) internal inconsistencies in the stage 1 estimation (of both the zonal and individual travel cost methodology), and the computation of number of visitors per year, and (b) methodological problems in the calculation of consumer surplus and the procedure used in the individual travel cost methodology. The note is concerned with practical estimation issues, not theoretical or econometric aspects.