Budgeting and portfolio allocation for biosecurity measures

This paper presents a practical model for optimally allocating a budget across different biosecurity threats and measures (e.g. prevention or border quarantine, active surveillance for early detection, and containment and eradication measures) to ensure the highest rate of return. Our portfolio model differs from the common principle, which ranks alternative projects by their benefit cost ratios and picks the one that generates the highest average benefit cost ratio. The model we propose, instead, aims to allocate shares of the budget to the species where it is most cost‐effective, and consequently determine the optimal scale of the control program for each threat under varying budget constraints. The cost‐effectiveness of each block of budget spent on a threat is determined by minimising its expected total cost, including the damages it inflicts, and the control expenditures incurred in preventing or mitigating damages. As an illustration, the model is applied to the optimal allocation of a budget across four of Australia's most dangerous pests and diseases: red imported fire ants; foot‐and‐mouth disease; papaya fruit fly; and orange hawkweed. The model can readily be extended to consider more species and activities, and more complex settings including cases where detailed spatial and temporal information needs to be considered.     

Natural resource accounting

There is as yet no consensus on the most appropriate way to incorporate the degradation of environmental capital into national income accounting procedure. Net product is currently derived by deducting from gross product the depreciation of man-made capital only. Deducting depreciation of natural capital in a similar manner will give a figure for true net product that provides a better indicator of that level of current income which is sustainable into the future. The user cost and net price methods of calculating the value of natural resource depreciation are analysed and assessed. On the basis of this assessment, the net price method is then used to adjust the national accounts of Zimbabwe for depletion of forests, soils and mineral resources, for the period 1980 to 1989. The results suggest that economic depreciation of natural resources represents approximately 2% of annual GDP, although this is regarded as a significant underestimate. The implications for integrating natural resource depletion into policy making, within the current national political climate, are then addressed.     

兼并完，但别让队伍整合“完蛋”了

完全可以肯定：企业的合并充满挑战性。但即便如此,它们仍然可以为企业组织提供变革的可能性。为了确保收入增长和实现合并行动所承诺但往往无法实现的价值,最大的变革之———销售队伍的整合——是企业的首要任务。     

Have the frills really left the European airline industry?

The emergence of low‐cost scheduled carriers in European aviation has attracted attention from business and leisure travellers as well as from established carriers. This paper examines low‐cost carriers in terms of their operating features and considers implications for European transport markets. Relevant aspects of the operating environment of European airlines are examined. An analysis of the USA situation in relation to low‐cost carriers is also provided. It is suggested that further research into the development of budget air travel in Europe needs to be undertaken. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.