EVALUATING THE LEVEL AND DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS FROM DAIRY INDUSTRY RESEARCH

A model and associated formulae are developed to estimate the size and distribution of benefits generated by different types of research for the Australian dairy industry. Particular attention is given to the influence of policy interventions on the estimates. The estimates of aggregate research benefits differ for free market assumptions versus current policy assumptions, but quantitatively the differences are small. By contrast, estimates of the distribution of benefits between different groups of consumers and farmers are significantly altered by the policy interventions