Award Winners, 2002

‘This meeting endorses the formation of a society to be known as the Australian Agricultural Economics Society. Moved by P.C. Druce. Seconded by D.B. Williams’. [Verbatim Report of Conference of Agricultural Economists, 21/2/57]

As well as moving the decisive motion, Peter was a member of the organising committee for that first meeting of the Society, and he edited the proceedings of the meeting.

His contribution to the new Society continued into the 1960s, with him serving as Treasurer in 1960 and President in 1965.

During his 29 years with the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Peter made important contributions in the areas of agricultural policy, farm management extension, the publication of the Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, and the professional development of many agricultural economists.

In the area of agricultural policy, he acted as advisor to the Director-General of Agriculture and the Minister for Agriculture on a broad range of agricultural policy matters, particularly relating to the wheat industry, but also the dairy and poultry industries. In this capacity he attended most meetings of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and the Australian Agricultural Council from 1949 to 1972.

Peter was responsible for the development of regional farm management services in New South Wales. In 1958 he undertook a study tour of farm management advisory services in the United Kingdom and the United States. Following this he developed a programme for the development of farm management extension in NSW, and this was fully implemented in due course.

Under Peter, the Division of Marketing and Agricultural Economics at NSW Department of Agriculture was the first agency in Australia to place agricultural economists on agricultural research stations. This made a great contribution in getting agricultural scientists to think about optimal levels of production rather than maximum levels.

He played a major role in establishing and editing the Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics as a fully professional quality journal, and edited it for many years. The journal received national recognition as one of the two premier journals of agricultural economics in Australia, until it was merged with the Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics at the end of 1996. It lives on in the "Survey" and "Policy Forum" sections of the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Peter contributed greatly to the professional development of numerous young agricultural economists working at the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the people who worked under Peter’s supervision are now in senior positions in Australia and around the world.

As Chairman of the Grain Elevators Board, Peter studied grain handling facilities, services and administration in Europe and North America, and these studies led to a number of initiatives in New South Wales grain handling and administration.

The Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society is grateful to Peter Druce for his important and diverse contributions to the foundation of the Society, and to the development of agricultural economics in Australia. The awarding of Distinguished Life Membership is a fitting tribute and recognition for an outstanding career.

• Professor (Personal Chair), School of Economics, University of Adelaide, 1991 to present (Lecturer from 1984, Senior Lecturer from 1986)

• Foundation Executive Director, Centre for International Economic Studies, University of Adelaide, since 1989

• Visiting Professor, World Trade Institute, Law School, University of Bern, 2002

• Non-Executive Director, Board of Australia’s Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, since 2000

• Dispute Settlement Panelist (part-time), World Trade Organization, Geneva, 1996-2000

• Counsellor and deputy director, Economic Research and Analysis Division, GATT (now WTO) Secretariat, Geneva, 1990-92

• Visiting Fellow, Institute for International Economic Studies, University of Stockholm, 1988 (on sabbatical)

• Research Fellow, Department of Economics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1977-83

• Director, Agricultural Trade Policy Unit, Australian Department of Trade, 1983

• Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow, Korea Rural Economics Institute, Seoul, 1980-81 and Visiting Fellow, Korea International Economic Institute, Seoul, 1979

• Agricultural Economist, South Australian Department of Agriculture, 1971-74

• Research Fellow, International Trade Program, Europe’s Centre for Economic Policy Research, since 1992

• Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, since 1994

• Recipient of four prizes for journal or book publications: Journal of Economic Integration, 1998 (on European-East Asian integration); University of Minnesota prize (on international trade policy), 1989; ANU's J.G. Crawford Prize (on Japanese agricultural policy), 1988; Tohata Memorial Award, 1987 (with Y. Hayami for their book on The Political Economy of Agricultural Protection)

• President, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, 1996

• Sir John Crawford Exchange Award of the Australian Agricultural Economics Society, 1987

• Served as Associate Editor or Editorial Board member for six journals, including the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Agricultural Economics, and the Review of International Economics

Kym Anderson grew up in rural South Australia (Naracoorte) before taking up a South Australian Government cadetship to study agricultural economics at the University of New England in the late 1960s. While working out his 3-year bond to the SA Department of Agriculture he completed an external MEc with the University of Adelaide, before heading to the US for doctoral studies. That involved a year under D. Gale Johnson at the University of Chicago (where he completed an MA) and two years at Stanford University where he received his PhD in 1977.

Kym’s research has ranged over numerous topics in the fields of agricultural, development, international, resource and environmental economics, as well as the economics of politics. Around twenty books are among the voluminous outputs of this research.

One particularly prominent topic among the many areas Kym has addressed in his research is that of international trade. Acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on trade issues, his books cover issues such as regional integration, the greening of world trade issues, world food markets, strengthening the global trading system, and global effects of liberalizing trade in farm products.

Another strong interest is wine, including its economics (numerous published articles), its production (Kym has his own vineyard), wine research and promotion (he’s a Director on the Board of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and serves on a committee of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation) and, no doubt, its consumption.

A particular feature of Kym’s research has been his ability to foster research partnerships and collaborations which bear fruit in spectacular ways. His long partnership with Rod Tyers is particularly noteworthy and impressive.

Reflecting the practical relevance of his work, he has completed a long list of consultancies both in Australia and overseas, with government, private sector and more than 20 international agencies all keen to make use of Kym’s outstanding abilities. The list of countries which have purchased Kym’s expertise includes Britain, Canada, China, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the USA. He has also served on numerous Ministerial Advisory panels, including the one that led in 1997 to Australia’s first White Paper on Foreign and Trade Policy.

Kym has lectured on many topics in economics from first-year to post-graduate levels at the University of Adelaide, as well as in several other universities around the world, including the University of Cambridge where he gave the Denman Lecture in 1992. He has supervised numerous theses/dissertations, engendering a deep respect and affection among his students.

Kym has made a major contribution to research administration, providing leadership of a number of bodies and membership of a range of reference groups, management committees and similar.

A notable indication of Kym’s international profile is that he was invited by Encyclopaedia Britannica to write the entry for "The World Trade Organization" for latest editions of the encyclopaedia.

Further evidence is the list of awards and prizes with which his research has been honoured, most of which are from international bodies.

Geoff Edwards grew up on a mixed farm in north-eastern Tasmania. He says that all subsequent physical activity has been easy compared with picking up stones prior to planting the potato crop. He obtained a BAgEc (Hons) from the University of New England, and proceeded to work as an economist in a variety of universities and government agencies, but most prominently as a long-standing academic at La Trobe University.

• Head of Department and Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne, 1997 to present

• Deputy Head of Department and Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne, 1996

• Professor of Economics, Monash University, 1991-96 (including periods as Chairman, Acting Dean and Deputy Dean)

• Deputy Director, Centre of Policy Studies, Monash University, 1986-90

• Research Director, Business Council of Australia, 1984-86

• Visiting Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, 1981 and 1983

• Professor of Agricultural Economics, La Trobe University, 1977-86

• Research Fellow, Department of Economics, Australian National University, 1974-77

• Economist, NSW Department of Agriculture, 1965-68 and 1972-74

• Research Assistant/Research Associate, University of California, Davis, 1968-72

• Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, 1991

• Outstanding Journal Article Award, The Economic Record, 1989

• American Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding Journal Article Award (shared with A. Sarris), 1985

• American Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding PhD Thesis Award, 1973

• Joint Editor, The Economic Record, 1982-86

• Editorial Council, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 1984-86

• President, Australian Agricultural Economics Society, 1980

John’s research interests have spanned many fields. His current research focuses on taxation reform, labour economics (especially employment), infrastructure pricing and investment, and microeconomic reform. He has clearly broadened his horizons considerably since his earliest research papers, which covered wheat storage costs, wheat segregation and the economics of information. In between, his very large body of published work has continued to include many issues in agricultural and resource economics, as well as his work on general applied microeconomics and macroeconomics.

In agricultural economics, apart from wheat, John’s applied work has addressed industries as diverse as beef, oranges, coal, dairy, and wine and related topics such as transport, meteorology, advertising, rural and regional economic development, drought policy, and research. Indeed, the economics of research is an area where he has been particularly influential. His 1981 report with Geoff Edwards, "Measuring a Country’s Gains from Research: Theory and Application" was a seminal synthesis of the economic issues and has been frequently cited.

Recently John has paid increased attention to aspects of natural resource management, including land degradation, pollution taxes, and conservation issues in mining. A range of theoretical and methodological issues have also fallen within his gaze, including statistics, surveys, forecasting, and various aspects of economic modelling.

Beyond all this, however, John is probably most noted as a highy respected and prolific analyst of big picture economic issues, including their influence on natural resource industries. Apart from the aforementioned issues of taxation, employment and infrastructure, he has completed research on industry assistance, inflation, price and marketing policies, and monetary policy.

John is a great communicator of economic ideas to non-economists and economists alike. In both the classroom and other settings, John is known for his disarming, unpretentious style, his capacity to simplify complex problems and express the key ideas clearly, and his tremendous versatility and breadth of economic understanding. A host of undergraduate students, and numerous Masters and PhD students have benefited from John's mentoring and advice.

The high esteem in which John is held for his work and his brilliant communication skills has resulted in him being regularly invited to speak at the conferences and symposia of AARES. His good humour and open, friendly personality were probably also relevant to these invitations.

Alistair Watson was born in Rushworth, a fading gold mining town in northern Victoria only latterly recognised for its elegance. His parents had a general store in nearby Stanhope – a post-World War 1 soldier settlement area – these days recognised for dairy farming and salinity. Alistair has spent too much of his life in Melbourne.

Alistair Watson holds degrees of BAgrSc from the University of Melbourne, MAgEc from the University of New England and PhD from the University of Adelaide.

Alistair combines the highest intellectual standards with a passion for real world issues. He has proven himself able to apply economic principles and economic theory to a broad range of agricultural and natural resource policy issues. In contributing to the policy debate, he also does not shirk from providing strong criticism when strong criticism is justified.

One of Alistair’s outstanding abilities is his writing, which combines clarity and wit to enliven whichever issue he is addressing.

Alistair’s research as an academic focused on agricultural marketing schemes for broadacre products; grain, dairy, meat and particularly wool all came under his critical gaze.

In his career as a teacher, he presented courses in agricultural economics to undergraduates in the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry and Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne, and supervised around a dozen graduate research students in subjects including the world wheat market, financing of wheat production, the economics of regulation and the evolution of the financial system of rural China in the wake of Chinese economic reforms.

Alistair worked as a contract employee in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (now ABARE) in 1987 and 1988. This was a time of vigorous debate over prospects for agriculture in the Australian economy. More so than in earlier or more recent times, the prevailing policy stance in the Commonwealth arena at this time was influenced by economic analysis, and Alistair found ABARE a congenial and stimulating place to work.

As a consultant, Alistair has tackled a diversity of issues, including agricultural research management, the Rural Adjustment Scheme, plant variety rights, salinity, meat promotion, rural credit in Colombia, national competition policy, irrigation water pricing, biotechnology, marketing and credit study of the Chinese potato industry and recently a range of issues in natural resource management. One consultancy in particular, on the gambling industry in South Australia, carries a resonance in Alistair’s interest in horse racing.

Alistair has made a major contribution to the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economic Society. Through the 1970s he served at different times as President (National and Branch), Editor of the Journal and Business Manager. He has continued to contribute to the Society in a variety of ways, such as speaking at the AARES Annual Symposia in 2000 and 2001.