Selling the Farm Silver? Understanding Water Sales to the Australian Government

In 2007?C2008 the Australian federal government committed $3.1?billion over 10?years to purchase water from irrigators in the Murray-Darling Basin and to deliver this water to key environmental assets. Given that water entitlements often represent one of the most valuable assets owned by irrigators, this study investigates irrigators?? willingness to sell water, and their actual water sales, to the government. It uses 1,570 surveys from 2008?C2009 and 2010?C2011 in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Water sales can be classified as either last resort or strategic. Overall, the results suggest that farmers who do not hold strong traditional farming attitudes, and have higher debt, lower farm income, larger high security water entitlements, lower water allocations over the past 5?years, and those who have been net sellers of water allocations are more likely to have sold water or are thinking of selling water to the government. A dynamic comparison of how water sale preferences change, and an estimate of the total amount of water entitlements irrigators are willing to sell, indicates that it is probable that there will be enough water offered to the program in the future, at least to meet initial minimum environmental water targets. However, other concerns indicate that a potential restructure of the program may be required.     

Personal health management--a better way to wellness

A risk management approach to disease prevention and health care utilization allows identification of the high-risk portion of an employee population. Benefits administrators can then implement strategies to manage costs for this small employee group.     

Simulations, case studies, and an online text: a web-based resource for teaching statistics

The Rice Virtual Laboratory in Statistics is an integrated combination of simulations/demonstrations, case studies, statistical analysis capabilities, and an electronic textbook. The simulations and demonstrations help make abstract concepts concrete and allow students to investigate various aspects of statistical tests and distributions. Case studies demonstrate the real-world applicability of statistical methods. The electronic textbook covers basic concepts in statistics and data analysis and contains links to data analysis tools, instructional simulations/demonstrations, and other on-line texts. An experiment with undergraduate students found that learning by simulation led to better transfer of statistical principles to everyday problems. Materials are available on the World Wide Web at .     

Information access: will make or break consumer-driven health plans

Consumer-driven health plans offer employers potentially significant cost savings. Yet such potential cannot be realized without greater consumer access to price, quality and treatment information. This article describes why consumer-based strategies have taken hold and how consumer-driven plan design and financial incentives are of only limited value in controlling costs. After reviewing the importance and availability of existing health care information, the authors suggest actions employers can take to ensure consumer-driven plans reach their potential.