Evaluating environmental policies under uncertainty through application of robust nonlinear programming

Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Volumn 55, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 469-486

  Doole, Graeme J ^a   Pannell, David J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA   (Australia)

Author keywords

Nonpoint pollution; Policy evaluation; Water quality

Indexed keywords

ABATEMENT COST; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; LAKE POLLUTION; NITRATE; NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION; POLICY ANALYSIS; SOFTWARE; UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS; WATER QUALITY;

NEW ZEALAND;

EID: 80053437895     PISSN: 1364985X     EISSN: 14678489     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8489.2011.00546.x     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. Adesina, A.A. and Ouattara, A.D. (2000). Risk and agricultural systems in northern Cote d'Ivoire, Agricultural Systems 66, 17-32.
2. Alefeld, G. and Herzberger, J. (1983). Introduction to Interval Computations. Academic Press, New York.
3. Brooke, A., Kendrick, D., Meeraus, A. and Raman, R. (2008). GAMS-A User's Guide. GAMS Development Corporation, Washington, DC.
4. Candler, W. and Boeljhe, M. (1977). Use of linear programming in capital budgeting with multiple goals, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 53, 325-330.
5. Dodds, W.K., Bouska, W.W., Eitzmann, J.L., Pilger, T.J., Pitts, K.L., Riley, A.J., Schloesser, J.T. and Thornbrugh, D.J. (2009). Eutrophication of U.S. freshwaters: analysis of potential economic damages, Environmental Science and Technology 43, 12-19.
6. Doole, G.J. (2010). Indirect instruments for nonpoint pollution control with multiple, dissimilar agents', Journal of Agricultural Economics 61, 680-696.
7. Doole, G.J. and Kingwell, R.S. (2010). Robust mathematical programming for natural resource modelling under parametric uncertainty', Natural Resource Modelling 23, 285-302.
8. Doole, G.J. and Pannell, D.J. (2008). Optimisation of a large, constrained simulation model using compressed annealing', Journal of Agricultural Economics 59, 188-206.
9. Environment Waikato (2008). The Condition of Rural Water and Soil in the Waikato Region: Risks and Opportunities. Environment Waikato, Hamilton.
10. Epstein, L.G. (1999). A definition of uncertainty aversion, Review of Economic Studies 66, 579-608.
11. Hansen, L.P. and Sargent, T.J. (2001). Robust control and model uncertainty, American Economic Review 91, 60-66.
12. Hazell, P.B.R. and Norton, R.D. (1986). Mathematical Programming for Economic Analysis in Agriculture. Macmillan, New York.
13. Henseler, M., Wirsig, A., Herrman, S., Krimly, T. and Dabbert, S. (2009). Modelling the impact of global climate change on regional agricultural land use through an activity-based non-linear programming approach, Agricultural Systems 100, 31-42.
14. Jaynes, E.T. (2003). Probability Theory: The Logic of Science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
15. Kampas, A. and White, B. (2004). Administrative costs and instrument choice for stochastic non-point source pollutants, Environmental and Resource Economics 27, 109-133.
16. Kingwell, R.S., Pannell, D.J. and Robinson, S.D. (1993). Tactical responses to seasonal conditions in whole-farm planning in Western Australia, Agricultural Economics 8, 211-226.
17. Livestock Improvement Corporation (2008). 2007/08 Dairy Statistics. Livestock Improvement Corporation, Hamilton.
18. McCarl, B.A. and Onal, H. (1989). Linear approximation using MOTAD and separable programming: should it be done?, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 71, 158-166.
19. McCarl, B.A. and Spreen, T.H. (2007). Applied mathematical programming using algebraic systems, [Online]. Available from URL: [accessed 12 October 2009].
20. McCarl, B.A., Candler, W.V., Doster, D.H. and Robbins, P.R. (1977). Experiences with farmer oriented linear programming for crop planning, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 25, 17-30.
21. Moir, J.L., Scotter, D.R., Hedley, M.J. and Mackay, A.D. (2000). A climate-driven, soil fertility dependent, pasture production model, New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 43, 491-500.
22. Monaghan, R.M., Hedley, M.J., Di, H.J., McDowell, R.W., Cameron, K.C. and Ledgard, S.F. (2007). Nutrient management in New Zealand pastures-recent developments and future issues, New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 50, 181-201.
23. Nemirovski, A. and Shapiro, A. (2006). Convex approximations of chance constrained programs, Siam Journal of Optimization 17, 969-996.
24. New Zealand Climate Database (NZCD) (2008). The national climate database, NIWA, Hamilton. [Online]. Available from URL: [accessed 15 September 2008].
25. Pannell, D.J. (1997). Sensitivity analysis of normative economic models: theoretical framework and practical strategies, Agricultural Economics 16, 139-152.
26. Pindyck, R.S. (2007). Uncertainty in environmental economics, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 1, 45-65.
27. Prekopa, A. (1995). Stochastic Programming. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
28. Rae, A.N. (1971). An empirical application and evaluation of discrete stochastic programming in farm management, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 53, 625-638.
29. Roseta-Palma, C. and Xepapadeas, A. (2004). Robust control in water management, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 29, 21-34.
30. Shaw, W.D. and Woodward, R.T. (2008). Why environmental and resource economists should care about non-expected utility models, Resource and Energy Economics 30, 66-89.
31. Statistics New Zealand (2007). New Zealand External Trade Statistics. Statistics New Zealand, Wellington. [Online]. URL: [accessed: 15 December 2008].
32. United Nations Environment Program (2008). Water Quality for Ecosystems and Human Health. United Nations Global Environmental Monitoring System, Ontario.
33. Weersink, A., Jeffrey, S. and Pannell, D.J. (2002). Farm-level modelling for bigger issues, Review of Agricultural Economics 24, 123-140.
34. Whistler, D., White, K.J., Wong, S.D. and Bates, D. (2004). SHAZAM Version 10 User's Manual. Northwest Econometrics, Gibsons.
35. Woodward, R.T. and Shaw, W.D. (2008). Allocating resources in an uncertain world: water management and endangered species, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 90, 593-605.
36. Wu, H. (2008). On interval-valued nonlinear programming problems, Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications 338, 299-316.
37. Zhu, M., Taylor, D.B., Sarin, S.C. and Kramer, R.A. (1994). Chance constrained programming models for risk-based economic and policy analysis of soil conservation, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 23, 58-65.