John Kandulu

Issue Addressed: Urban greenspaces are widely recognised for their benefits to public health, the environment and climate resilience and are supported by strong policy commitments across federal, state and local governments. However, Australian cities continue to experience net greenspace loss, reflecting a gap between policy commitments and implementation. A key contributor to this gap is the systematic undervaluation of greenspace and urban trees within local government decision‐making, particularly where their health, environmental and social benefits are not adequately reflected in economic assessments. This study aimed to develop a locally relevant economic framework and tools to support local governments' efforts to operationalise their urban greening policy goals. Method: A co‐design methodology was applied over an 18‐month period with the City of Salisbury and the City of Unley local governments in Adelaide, Australia. The process included co‐design workshops and other stakeholder engagement activities, to co‐develop economic scenarios, iteratively refine an economic modelling framework and collaboratively develop a prototype decision‐support tool and associated communication resources. Results: The co‐design process enabled shared problem framing, led to the development of locally relevant economic scenarios, and refined model assumptions to reflect operational realities of the councils. Outputs included: (1) an economic modelling framework to quantify costs and benefits of urban trees; (2) a prototype Urban Greening Decision‐Making Tool and (3) tailored communication resources (including fact sheets, infographics and a policy brief). Conclusion: This case study demonstrates that bridging the policy–implementation gap requires more than producing evidence; it requires researchers to work in genuine, trust‐based partnership with practitioners. This involves approaching collaboration with humility and flexibility, listening to partners' priorities and co‐creating research and outputs.

Information technology (IT) including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, watches and an expanding range of supporting technologies, is now embedded as a significant driver of innovation and economic growth. Despite extensive literature on barriers and enablers of female access and benefit, few studies provide quantitative evidence on how more female versus male IT access benefits smallholder households in developing countries. This study contributes to the empirical evidence by assessing how mobile phone ownership, particularly in female‐headed households, influenced agricultural yield and profit for smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, using the 2012 and 2015 national farm household survey and spatial climate data. Our empirical approach addresses the challenges posed by spatially clustered data in systematically stratified survey samples, potential endogeneity and self‐selection bias. We employ multilevel mixed‐effects generalised linear regression models and incorporate household fixed‐effects specifications to control for these issues and provide a more robust analysis of the relationship between mobile phone ownership and agricultural outcomes. Based on four out of six of our most robust estimates, we found that mobile phone ownership is associated with significant increases in both yield (4.1%–8.3%) and farm profit (25.4%–32.3%) for female‐headed households. Our conclusions highlight the potential for female digital inclusion to enhance smallholder profitability and yields in Bangladesh and other rural, agrarian economies with low‐ to middle‐income levels.JEL Classification: J16, O13, Q16

Conventional interventions for mitigating flood risk and increasing water security often focus on large-scale engineering solutions despite evidence of significant cost overruns and negative environmental impacts. This study is an example of participatory research in water economics, motivated (and requested) by concerns from downstream communities and Indigenous stakeholders that impacts of a proposed dam upgrade and storage increase were not adequately considered. We reviewed the preliminary benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of the proposed AUD$2.1 billion infrastructure investment to expand the Wyangala Dam in Australia and conducted a new BCA incorporating downstream community perspectives. The original economic analysis favoured the proposed investment, but it underestimated costs and overestimated benefits. Our economic analysis was complemented with a qualitative analysis of downstream community perspectives, plus a quantitative analysis indicating that total project costs were underestimated by a minimum of 116%. In comparison, total benefits were overestimated by 56%. Neglecting the potential impact of climate change also severely overestimated the original benefit-cost ratio. Based on our calculations, expanding the dam was unlikely to yield a net social benefit. In 2023, a new government decided the dam expansion was too expensive. We recommend policymakers prioritise independent evaluations and community engagement for BCAs on large-scale water infrastructure projects to ensure equitable investment decisions that maximise social welfare and adequate environmental assessment.

Climate change threatens the livelihoods of Sub-Saharan African farmers through increased droughts. Livestock donation programs offer a potential solution, but their effectiveness under climate stress remains unclear. This study assesses the economic viability of integrating climate-smart technologies (cowsheds and biogas plants) into these programs in Rwanda. Using a stochastic benefit–cost analysis from the beneficiary perspective, we evaluate the net gains for households receiving heifers compared to the current program. Our findings reveal that integrating climate-smart technologies significantly enhances economic viability. Households with cows and climate-smart technologies can possibly realise net benefits 3.5 times higher than the current program, with benefit–cost ratios reaching 5:1. Beyond economic benefits, adopting biogas reduces deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and respiratory illness risks. This study demonstrates that integrating climate-smart technologies into livestock donation programs can generate positive economic, environmental, and health benefits, leading to more resilient and sustainable smallholder systems. However, overcoming implementation challenges requires tailored policy packages addressing local barriers.

Compelling evidence shows that trees and greenspaces positively impact human well-being and the environment and offer economic benefits. Nevertheless, there exists a knowledge gap regarding the extent to which this evidence is efficiently incorporated into existing urban planning decision-making processes. This scoping review identified the extent to which urban planning decision-making frameworks, models, and tools consider the health, environmental, and economic benefits of trees and greenspace. Out of 28 reviewed studies, 11 (39%) reported on frameworks, models, and tools that take into account the health, environmental, and economic dimensions of trees and greenspace. Additionally, seven studies provided comprehensive coverage of at least one of the three key dimensions. However, none of the decision support frameworks, models, or tools comprehensively integrated all three dimensions, with only two tools (7%) scoring above 50% (five or more out of nine) in terms of comprehensiveness. This review highlights the urgent need to incorporate the true economic and monetary values of the health and environmental benefits of trees and greenspace to inform urban development decision making.

This presentation reports the results of an investigation of the introduction of Renewable Gas Target (RGT) mechanisms in Australia. An RGT is a mechanism that seeks to increase the share or absolute amount of renewable gases such as green hydrogen in the gas supply. Green hydrogen and biomethane are the most prospective renewable gases although each has its limitations: uncertainties regarding solutions to technical constraints and the need for production cost reductions for green hydrogen and limited supply for biomethane. The first stream of the study investigates the experience of renewable targets in Australia and overseas, taking into account recent and prospective initiatives in Australia. It reports on stakeholder consultations with gas networks, industrial and small gas consumers, renewable gas producers, government policy makers and regulators. It reports a broad range of perspectives on a renewable gas target and the potential use of green hydrogen in the Australian economy. It then proceeds to a discussion of the economic issues arising in the design of an RGT and puts forward some alternatives that could be looked at by policy makers considering a sector-specific initiative and assesses their advantages and disadvantages. The second stream of work involves computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling of the economic impacts of alternative configurations of an RGT. The CGE modelling proceeds from an emissions trajectory which is consistent with current government policy and in particular net zero by 2050. Net zero by 2050 cannot occur without substantial offset activity and the model allows for it. It takes a baseline scenario without an RGT and develops a number of scenarios with RGT and compares them against baseline. The outputs of the CGE modelling identify impacts on major economic variables of interest such as GDP, per capita consumption, and gross output and populations for the States and Territories.

This study evaluates the economic potential for Area Wide Management (AWM) of the Queensland fruit fly (Qfly) using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) through three case studies across endemic and Pest-Free Areas (PFA) in south-east Australia. The cost of Qfly needs to be identified before the potential benefit of AWM and SIT can be evaluated. We use results from grower workshops and expert elicitation to identify the financial cost of Qfly to growers (the baseline) and the potential impact of AWM as a precursor to SIT (scenarios). Results show a net benefit from maintaining PFA status. In endemic regions, the potential financial benefits to growers of are low. Avoided adjustment costs that contribute to a net benefit in PFA’s are sunk in endemic regions. The low threshold for Qfly in markets and on-farm, and availability of cost-effective management options, implies limited benefits from avoided management costs. Market access is uncertain and AWM and SIT alone are not sufficient to access these benefits. Although there may be exceptions, we find limited grower benefits from AWM and SIT in Qfly endemic growing regions.

Human capital investment, especially in education, is a well-known precursor of economic growth in developing countries. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of microfinance programmes, yet evidence on whether microfinance leads to increased educational investment is tenuous at best. We utilise a large-scale cross-sectional household dataset from Bangladesh and geospatial data to study how microcredit participation and increasing microcredit incomes – that is, the extensive and intensive margins of microcredit – affects the probability of children’s school enrolment. The causal influence of microcredit participation on enrolments was estimated by utilising the propensity score matching (PSM) technique – a quasi-experimental treatment effects model. Whilst microcredit participation, the extensive margin, did not significantly influence the likelihood of school enrolment for boys, it increased girls’ enrolment. Further, microcredit income, the intensive margin, had a stronger influence on girls’ and younger siblings’ enrolment than on boys’ and older siblings’ enrolment. Omission of spatial influences can overstate microcredit influence on enrolment; while not utilising PSM can underestimate the influence of microcredit participation on enrolment. Results suggest policies that focus solely on increasing microcredit participation, without increasing the amount of microcredit incomes accessed by households, may be less effective at improving child education outcomes.