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Alan Randall

Alan Randall is an academy professor and scholar in residence in the Sustainability Institute at the Ohio State University, and an honorary professor of Economics at the University of Sydney. His research interests are in environmental economics and policy with modest sidelines in research methods and environmental ethics. Current work is addressing inter-generational sustainability of welfare, climate change adaptation, policy and management implications of ambiguity, and the challenge of validating integrated assessment models.

His writings include Risk and Precaution (Cambridge University Press 2011), Resource Economics: An Economic Approach to Natural Resource and Environmental Policy (4th ed, Edward Elgar, 2016 in press, with John C. Bergstrom), Making the Environment Count: Selected Essays, (Edward Elgar, 1999), and numerous journal articles. In addition to research and classroom teaching, he has supervised 30 PhD students to graduation, served as chair of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at Ohio State (1998-2010) and head of Agricultural and Resource Economics at U Sydney (2011-2014), and has been active in consulting and on committees advisory to various public agencies.

Alan holds two honorary doctorates, is a Fellow of three scholarly societies, recently served as President of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, and completed a 6-year term on the US National Research Council standing committee on human dimensions of global change. He chaired the long-serving external review panel for the recent Australian National Outlook project, which was featured in Nature on November 5, 2015.

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Papers by Alan Randall

Agricultural Economics Library There is some tendency in the literature to treat benefit cost ana... more Agricultural Economics Library There is some tendency in the literature to treat benefit cost analysis (BCA) as an extension to the public sector of the economic feasibility studies long used in the private sector. In the folk language, this idea has its counterpart in the notion that it would be desirable to run government like a business.

The IUP Journal of Applied Economics, 2005

The Chinese grain policy reforms were implemented in 1994. The grain price subsidies were elimina... more The Chinese grain policy reforms were implemented in 1994. The grain price subsidies were eliminated which led to a substantial grain price increase. This paper examines the welfare changes associated with the grain policy reforms. All welfare measures unambiguously show that the consumers became worse off after the implementation of the grain policy reforms. More interesting, however, is the comparison between the rich and poor consumers. Evidence suggests that the rich lost more than the poor in monetary terms. Finally, the analysis shows that income inequality in China went down after the grain policy reforms.

Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies, 1982

My purpose is to set the stage for subsequent sessions on the federal role in some specific natur... more My purpose is to set the stage for subsequent sessions on the federal role in some specific natural resource management issues: land use, soil and water conservation, and water resources development. In each of these areas, resource allocation decisions are ultimately made by a myriad of private firms and individuals (farmers, real estate developers, home buyers, irrigators, and those active in the market for land as a capital asset). These decisions, however, are influenced by the rules and regulations, taxes, public works, and public investments that emanate from the various branches and levels of government. Government has considerable power to influence the course of natural resource allocation and the well-being of everyone who has a stake in the way natural resources are used, developed and conserved.

The Australian journal of agricultural economics, Dec 1, 1981

The Australian water economy is entering a mature phase characterised by inelastic supply of 'new... more The Australian water economy is entering a mature phase characterised by inelastic supply of 'new' water and the need for expensive rehabilitation of aging projects. Thus, the policy focus will turn increasingly toward ways of restraining water demand and reallocating existing supplies. A prima facie case is made that the efficiency loss from current water pricing and allocation policy is significant. After considering the relevant welfare economics theory, the theory of administered prices and marketable property rights and some American proposals for reform, a system of transferable water entitlements is proposed and developed. A basic premise of the argument to follow is that the Australian water economy, for the most part, is entering a mature phase (Watson and Rose 1980). Thus, the issues, priorities and relative cost of alternative solutions in the future will be quite different from those of the earlier expansionary phase. Changed circumstances will render the traditional solutions considerably more costly and less effective. Increasing awareness throughout the water industry of these emerging circumstances may produce a policy environment receptive to timely and pertinent contributions from economists. The Maturing Water Economy An expansionary water economy is characterised by relatively low social cost of expanded water use, in total and at the margin. As the demand curve for delivered water shifts rightward, new projects can be developed on favourable sites. Not only are the immediate costs fairly low, but the costs arising as aging facilities need expensive renovation and delayed or unforseen impacts (such as rising water tables and salin-* Research for this article was completed while I was visiting at the University of New England. I am grateful to the University for an internal research grant supporting this effort; Warren F. Musgrave for encouragement and the benefit of his accumulated wisdom; D. R. Gallagher for comments; and officers of the irrigation authorities of Queensland, N.S.W., S.A. and Victoria and the Australian Water Resources Council for helpful discussions and access to various data. Responsibility for the conclusions drawn is mine alone, and there can be no implication that any of the above-mentioned will find them congenial. The manuscript was prepared while 1 was visiting at the University of Chicago, and John P. Hoehn and participants in the Agricultural Economics Workshop offered helpful comments at that stage. Suggestions from the Editors and reviewers were helpful in preparing the final draft. 195 196 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS DEC.

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Aug 26, 1999

The rational approach to decision making fails to protect us from extraordinary risks, while infl... more The rational approach to decision making fails to protect us from extraordinary risks, while inflexible application of the precautionary principle could inhibit innovation. How then are we to manage the risks, uncertainties, and "unknown unknowns" of the real world? In this book, Alan Randall unravels the key controversies surrounding the precautionary principle and develops a new framework that can be taken seriously in policy and management circles. Respecting the complexity of the real world, he defines a justifiable role for the precautionary principle in a risk management framework that integrates precaution with elements of the standard risk management model. This is explained using examples from medicine, pharmacy, synthetic chemicals, nanotechnology, the environment, and natural resources conservation. This carefully reasoned but highly accessible book will appeal to readers from a broad range of disciplines, including risk management and policy applied to health, technology, and the environment.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Feb 1, 2015

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2008

As a contribution to valuing the outputs of multifunctional agriculture, we report three new meta... more As a contribution to valuing the outputs of multifunctional agriculture, we report three new meta analyses estimating value functions for agricultural conservation program impacts on water quality, wetlands, and upland habitat and open space. As is often the case in valuation, where methods have yet to be standardized, the data sets are relatively small and noisy. With a clear objective of benefits transfer, we seek robust parameter estimates for key RHS variables, even at the cost of some loss of goodness of fit. We present our estimated full equations, and benefits transfer values calculated from equations estimated after backward elimination of insignificant variables, and offer a rationale for this approach to benefits transfer.

Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Jul 1, 1982

Natural resource economics has long been cannot complete the task alone: at some points, identifi... more Natural resource economics has long been cannot complete the task alone: at some points, identified as a policy science. Its chief conthe argument relies on judgment. cerns-problems attributable to "market failures" of various kinds (e.g., Castle 1965) and the RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND special difficulties that arise in intertemporal and THE POLICY PROCESS intergenerational resource allocation (e.g., Resource economics seeks to generate the Solow)-inherently require some kind of public Solow)-inerently require sme kind of information that influences policy arid, in

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Aug 26, 1999

CHAPTER 25 WHAT MAINSTREAM ECONOMISTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY ALAN RANDALL Pr... more CHAPTER 25 WHAT MAINSTREAM ECONOMISTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY ALAN RANDALL Professor of Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio A wide variety of ...

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Aug 26, 1999

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Feb 1, 1976

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Nov 1, 1988

Natural Resources Journal, 1983

Risk and Precaution, 2009

The IUP Journal of Applied Economics, 2005

Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies, 1982

The Australian journal of agricultural economics, Dec 1, 1981

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Aug 26, 1999

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Feb 1, 2015

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2008

Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Jul 1, 1982

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Aug 26, 1999

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Feb 1, 1976

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Nov 1, 1988

Natural Resources Journal, 1983

Risk and Precaution, 2009

Risk and Precaution, 2011

The precautionary principle is distinct in important ways from risk aversion as characterized in ... more The precautionary principle is distinct in important ways from risk aversion as characterized in utilitarian models.

Recent research challenges the foundations of regulatory policy for pharmaceutical drugs and medi... more Recent research challenges the foundations of regulatory policy for pharmaceutical drugs and medical treatments in a novel way: rather than a single risky treatment, the regulator should prefer a menu of treatments with ambiguous risks (Viscusi and Zeckhauser 2015). Then, patients would have opportunity to try treatments, eventually settling on the one that works best for them. I examine this argument and offer three conclusions. (1) Patient heterogeneity – i.e. patients respond differently to a given treatment – creates the matching problem that motivates trial-and-switch strategies, and provides the ambiguity that drives the potential gains therefrom. However, trial and switch is not an unmixed blessing. (2) Ambiguity-seeking policy, over and above that provided by patient heterogeneity, would be accomplished by reducing sample sizes and/or replications in pre-approval testing. The mean level of acceptable risk could be maintained, but confidence limits would expand, increasing the risk to individual patients. In effect, this is just another proposal for less regulatory caution regarding treatment risks and more attention to risk-risk trade-offs, as suggested by the quality-adjusted life-years, QALY, framework. (3) The case for risk-neutral regulation of treatment safety should be taken seriously in cases of devastating and life-threatening afflictions. Otherwise it fails, most obviously in the case of treatments for relatively minor ailments, which treatments dominate shelf space at drug stores and advertising in the media.

Environmental economics has been an increasingly significant focus for AARES and its members. Sig... more Environmental economics has been an increasingly significant focus for AARES and its members. Significant contributions began in the 1960's and 70's with conceptual insights into the causes for market failure and the design of appropriate policy responses. The practical orientation of the profession led to the development and application of analytical tools in a wide array of contexts. Prominent amongst these have been non-market valuation, market based policy instruments and the private sector provision of environmental protection. Interaction with natural and social scientists has been a feature. Cross fertilization has resulted to define emergent fields such as behavioural economics and ecological economics. Multidisciplinary endeavours have also grown in areas such as ecosystem service provision and integrated assessment modelling. These areas are likely to expand further with the ongoing contribution of core elements of the economics discipline.

AgEconSearch, 2011

Because original high-quality non-market valuation studies can be expensive, perhaps prohibitivel... more Because original high-quality non-market valuation studies can be expensive, perhaps prohibitively so, benefits transfer (BT) approaches are often used for valuing, e.g., the outputs of multifunctional agriculture. Here we focus on the use of BT functions, a preferred method, and address an under-appreciated problem-variable selection uncertainty-and demonstrate a conceptually superior method of resolving it. We show that the standard method of value-function BT, using the full estimated model, may generate BT values that are too sensitive to insignificant variables, whereas models reduced by backward elimination of insignificant variables pay no attention to insignificant variables that may in fact have some influence on values. Rather than searching for the best single model for BT, Bayesian model averaging (BMA) is attentive to all of the variables that are a priori relevant, but uses posterior model probabilities to give systematically lower weight to less significant variables. We estimate a full value model for wetlands in the US, and then calculate BT values from the full model, a reduced model, and by BMA. Variable selection uncertainty is exemplified by regional variables for wetland location. Predicted values from the full model are quite sensitive to region; reduced models pay no attention to regional variables; and the BMA predictions are attentive to region but give it relatively low weight. However, the suite of insignificant RHS variables, taken together, have non-trivial influence on BT values. BMA predicted values, like values from reduced models, have much narrower confidence intervals than values calculated from the full model.

Engineering and Ecosystems - Seeking Synergies Toward a Nature-Positive World, 2023

Ecosystems services (ES) and the natural assets that produce them are valued by people. Not all o... more Ecosystems services (ES) and the natural assets that produce them are valued by people. Not all of these values are reflected in markets, but all of them contribute in some ways to human wellbeing. Economic values of ES and natural assets relate in rigorous ways to the economic concept of welfare, which has been shaped by market logic. The advantage of this approach is that efficiency is defined consistently in the public sector, where it is reflected in cost benefit analysis (CBA) and in the private sector given efficient markets. The benefits and costs of many environmental initiatives have market and nonmarket dimensions, and methods of nonmarket valuation are introduced and discussed. None of this is free of controversy: market actors are often skeptical of nonmarket values, and CBA has critics protesting that market logic dismisses values arising from nonutilitarian ethical stances while paying too much attention to the preferences of the well-off. Price and value can be harnessed in payment programs and markets that incentivize enhanced provision of ecosystem services. Two such programs, the US sulfur oxides cap-and-trade program and the Australian experiments with conservation auctions, are discussed in some detail. These kinds of markets are intended to serve the public interest in providing ecosystem services efficiently, but they can succeed only if they also provide opportunities for cost-savings and/or business expansion for private operators large and small. Keywords • Environmental services • Cost benefit analysis • Nonmarket valuation • Environmental markets Access provided by Ohio State University Libraries Download chapter PDF