Optimisation and the selection of conservation contracts

Stefan Hajkowicz (), Andrew Higgins, Kristen Williams, Daniel P. Faith and Michael Burton

Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2007, vol. 51, issue 1, 39-56

Abstract: This paper explores alternative techniques for the selection of conservation contracts under competitive tendering programs. Under these programs, purchasing decisions are often based on the benefits score and cost for proposed projects. The optimisation problem is to maximise the aggregate benefits without exceeding the budget. Because the budget rarely permits all projects to be funded, there is a binary choice problem, known in the operations research published work as a knapsack problem. The decision-maker must choose which projects are funded and which are not. Under some circumstances, the knapsack problem can be unsolvable because computational complexity increases exponentially with the number of projects. This paper explores the use of several decision rules for solving the optimisation problem including the use of advanced meta-heuristics. It is shown that commonly applied techniques for project selection may not be providing the optimal solution. Improved algorithms can increase the environmental programs benefits and staying within budget. The comparison of algorithms is based on real data from the Western Australian Conservation Auction. Copyright 2007 CSIRO Journal compilation 2007 Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Inc. and Blackwell Publishing Ltd .

Date: 2007
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (144)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-8489.2007.00345.x link to full text (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Journal Article: Optimisation and the selection of conservation contracts (2007)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:ajarec:v:51:y:2007:i:1:p:39-56

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-8489

Access Statistics for this article

Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics is currently edited by John Rolfe, Lin Crase and John Tisdell

More articles in Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics from Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().