Policy Influences on Genetic Diversity in Australian Wheat Production

The research reported in this paper has its origins in a wider project (e.g. Brennan et al. 1999a) examining economic dimensions of genetic diversity in the wheatgrowing industries of Australia and China. Part of this study involved the econometric estimation of the supply of and demand for genetic diversity in the Australian wheat industry. Especially since 1945, government policy has had a major impact on the marketing of Australian wheat, and also on the research and development process. Government policy is therefore a possible shifter of the supply and demand curves, and some “policy” variable would be required to test the significance of this hypothesis. Construction of such a policy variable required the preliminary analysis of the likely forms of government policy that might eventually affect the supply and demand for genetic diversity.