Development of a "prices paid" monitoring system
Ex-post benefit-cost evaluation of R&D projects
Final report
Increasing demands on public funds have led to calls from governments and industry for greater accountability in research expenditures and hence a need for a systematic evaluation of the benefits from research.
The underlying rationale for government involvement in supporting fisheries research and development has been the presence of 'market failure' in research investment. That is, because individuals or private companies may not be able to gain most of the benefits of a successful research outcome, they will underinvest in research and development relative to the level that would maximise the net benefits to society.
A major objective in this study is to demonstrate the types and possible magnitudes of economic benefits that have been generated from selected research projects funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation ( or its predecessor the Fishing Industry Research and Development Council) over the past decade.
Another objective is to provide feedback on the process of evaluating the benefits and costs of fisheries research and development after the findings of the research have been implemented.
Seafood market trends in the Republic of Korea
Final report
Fisheries Research Handbook - The evaluation, prioritisation and selection of a research portfolio.
Electronic marketing of fisheries products
Final report
In an earlier ABARE study of the efficiency of seafood marketing (Smith and Reid 1993) it was suggested that alternative marketing arrangements have the potential to improve the efficiency of seafood marketing. Among the options canvassed was the possibility of developing electronic marketing of seafood. Electronic marketing systems may be well suited to the fishing industry's operations, particularly to domestic marketing, where the majority of product is sold in fresh chilled form, requiring the rapid movement of product, and where there are wide variations in both fishing and marketing operations.
Electronic marketing encompasses any form of marketing activity which is undertaken remotely through a computer network. Under an electronic marketing system, buyers and sellers are able to trade by offering or bidding for products through their own computers, networked to a central computer system, recording bids according to a specified sale structure. Such systems allow a large number of buyers and sellers to simultaneously participate in a sale. Electronic marketing systems have been developed and implemented for some agricultural products, such as livestock, but are not widely used at present.
The objective in this project is to identify potential applications of electronic marketing in the fishing industry, some of the likely benefits that may result, and the conditions that would need to be met for these benefits to be realised. Identifying the full extent of the potential benefits and costs of electronic marketing was outside the ambit of this study. The benefits of electronic marketing will vary widely between different user groups, and a full assessment would require detailed information on the current operations of a wide array of potential users. Similarly, the costs will be influenced by the administrative arrangements adopted in establishing the computer network and the technologies used, both of which are subject to considerable uncertainty.