ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8161-7963
Current Organisation
Central Queensland University
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Publisher: Emerald
Date: 22-11-2021
Abstract: In 2020, mechanisms to limit the chain of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Australia led to widespread restrictions on population mobility and business operations. Such conditions provide a natural experiment that may help to provide insights into consumer behaviour and future trends in food consumption. The overall objective of this study is to explore the possible impacts of COVID-19 on meat consumption patterns in Australia, both in the short and medium term, and to explore whether there have been impacts on the underlying drivers for consumption. The research reported in this paper analyses the impacts of COVID-19 on meat and seafood consumption in Australia, drawing on a national random survey of 1,200 participants in June 2020. Survey data on past and current consumption rates are compared to respondent estimates of their future consumption behaviour, and ordered probit models are used to identify whether consumption changes can be explained by socio-demographic, attitudinal or economic factors. Two potential scenarios were evaluated to explore future consumption trends. The first “acceleration” scenario is that the restrictions would encourage people to speed up existing declines in meat consumption, perhaps taking more account of credence factors such as health, animal welfare and environmental issues. The second “transformation” scenario is that people will change consumption patterns, perhaps moving more towards home-cooked meals and increased consumption. Slightly stronger support was found for the transformation scenario, indicating that consumption rates for most meats and seafood will be stable or increase over the next five years. This study capitalises on changed social and economic settings generated by COVID-19 to test the effects on consumption of meat (chicken, beef, pork, lamb) and seafood at a national level. Ordered probit models are applied to evaluate participant data on their future intentions for meat consumption to test two scenarios, finding stronger support for the “transformative” scenario than the “accelerate” scenario.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-06-2022
Abstract: Reducing nutrient runoff from sugarcane production into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has become a major policy focus for the Queensland and Australian Governments. This study explores consumer willingness to pay (WTP) to achieve higher environmental standards for sugar originating from the GBR catchments, through the use of a GBR‐safe ecolabel. A Best‐Worst Scaling (BWS) and a Contingent Valuation (CV) experiment are conducted on a random s le of 1,100 Australian residents. The BWS experiment reveals that personal health considerations are more important than sustainability and environmental factors, including impacts on the GBR. Results of the CV experiment show that respondents are more likely to pay a premium to support Reef‐friendly sugar if they are living in urban areas, plan to visit the GBR in the future, think that the GBR condition has declined, and are generally concerned about keeping a healthy diet. We estimate that the average WTP is $24.5/year/household, which only represents 0.34 per cent of the average weekly grocery bill of Australian households. This small contribution through increased sugar prices could conservatively raise $46.9M/year in support of sugar producers to improve water quality in the GBR. Based on these results, we recommend policy‐makers consider instruments that further involve sugar consumers.
Publisher: Sri Lanka Journals Online (JOL)
Date: 29-06-2021
Abstract: This study examines the effect of microcredit on the technical efficiency of paddy production in the Anuradhapura district of Sri Lanka using the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier analysis. The study employed non-probability s ling techniques to select a s le of 60 farmers consisting of both microcredit borrowers and non-borrowers. The results revealed that the average technical efficiency of the considered paddy farmers was 89%, implying that farmers have the potential to increase their paddy productivity by 11%. Farm inputs such as land extent (p .05), seed paddy quantity (p .05), and agrochemical costs (p .1) showed a significant effect on paddy productivity. Agricultural experience (p .05), education level, extension services, and use of microcredit (p .1) showed a positive impact on paddy farmers' technical efficiency. The majority of selected farmers (85%) obtained small loans of up to LKR 100,000 for their production, with 57% using only formal credit and 40% using only informal credit. However, there was no significant difference (p .05) in terms of production efficiency between formal and informal credit access. The results also showed evidence of constant returns to scale. Effective and well-functioning extension services, training to improve the managerial capacity of farmers, and the provision of micro-credit improve the efficiency of paddy production. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of providing agricultural credit facilities to farmers.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: Universal Wiser Publisher Pte. Ltd
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.37256/REDR.322022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-04-2016
Publisher: Universal Wiser Publisher Pte. Ltd
Date: 08-11-2022
Abstract: Over the past decades, most of the countries in the world have undergone unprecedented demographic changes, such as childbearing preferences. This has been a basis for a large array of research however, studies so far have focused a little on the impacts of domestic violence and family structure on childbearing preferences which is the overall aim of this study. A logistic regression model was developed using a large data set (8,776) that represents different residential sectors (urban, rural, and estate) in Sri Lanka. Results indicate that women in an extended family structure are more likely to prefer another child than women in a nuclear family. The disaggregated analysis indicates the heterogeneity in childbearing preferences. Precisely, the experience of domestic violence shows a negative impact in rural and urban sectors. The findings suggest providing appropriate programs on reducing family violence, alleviating poverty and encouraging women's education, to achieve healthy population growth and SDGs.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 23-03-2018
DOI: 10.3390/SU10040937
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Pte Ltd
Date: 28-02-2016
DOI: 10.1142/S0217590816400026
Abstract: One of the most evident casualties of a natural disaster is the property market. The private and social costs from such events run into millions of dollars. In this paper, we use a unique dataset to examine the impact on residential house prices affected by natural disasters using a hedonic property (HP) values approach. For this purpose, we use data before and after a wildfire and floods from Rockh ton in central Queensland, Australia. The data is unique because one suburb was affected by wildfires and another was affected by floods. For the analysis, three suburbs namely Frenchville, Park Avenue and Norman Gardens are used. Frenchville was significantly affected by wildfires in the latter part of 2009 and to a lesser extent in 2012, while Park Avenue was affected by floods at the end of 2010, January 2011–2013. Norman Gardens, which was relatively unaffected, is used as a control site. This enables us to examine the before and after effects on property values in the three suburbs. The results confirm that soon after a natural disaster property prices in affected areas decrease even though the large majority of in idual houses remain unaffected. Furthermore, the results indicate that the largely unaffected suburb may gain immediately after a natural disaster but this gain may disappear if natural disasters continue to occur in the area/region due to the stigma created. The results have several important policy decision and welfare implications which are briefly discussed in the paper.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
Location: Sri Lanka
No related grants have been discovered for Darshana Rajapaksa.