Public Policy On Cattle Tick Control In New South Wales

An economic problem exists in the allocation of resources to cattle tick control. The decisions of private individuals on tick control are unlikely to result in a desirable allocatin from society's viewpoint because of market failure. Such market failure will be due to significant externalities, risk and economies of scale in cattle tick control and ignorance of tick control by producers. Government involvement is justified to achieve a better allocation of resources than would otherwise occur. Choice of the desirable level of Government involvement and of the best control strategy will depend upon reduction of the decision problem to a choice between a combination of a small number of strategies and policy instruments and empirical evaluation of the benefits and costs of these. The difficulties of doing so are discussed. The distribution of benefits is analyzed. Arguments are presented for adopting the principle that the beneficiaries of tick control should pay. Based on this principle methods of raising finance for cattle tick control in New South Wales are analyzed and recommendations made. The results are presented of a cost-benefit study on cattle tick control. It was assumed that the current level of Government involvement would continue and the study sought to determine whether eradication was a more economic policy than the present control policy. Eradication was shown to be most probably superior to continued control. The use is demonstrated of subjective probabilities determined by groups.