The Australian Agricultural & Resource Economics Society (AARES) has secured a presentation by one of Australia’s foremost young water experts, with fresh ideas from his recent PhD So if you’re near Sydney CBD later this week, please come along and listen to Dr Neal Hughes, ABARES, Crawford School, ANU.

• Date: Thursday 17 September 2015
• Time: 5.30 - 7.00 pm
• Venue: Level 47, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney
• Cost: This is a free seminar and non-members are encouraged to attend

In this seminar, Neal will summarise the findings of his PhD thesis: “Water property rights in rivers controlled by large dams”. Neal’s PhD research considers the design of property right systems for water including rights to both physical water flows and storage capacity. While property right reforms undertaken in Australia, have proven successful, externalities and transaction costs always persist. Neal’s thesis asks the question: what is the preferred system of water rights --- given that all proposals are in some way imperfect. About the Speaker: Neal Hughes is a Senior Economist with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). In 2004 Neal obtained his honours degree in economics from the University of Melbourne. Since joining ABARES in 2006, Neal has completed research on a range of water and agricultural productivity issues, including: urban water pricing and investment, reservoir management, water property rights reform and climate adjusted productivity measures. In 2010 Neal took a lead role in ABARES analysis of the Murray-Darling Basin plan. In 2011 Neal was awarded a Sir Roland Wilson Foundation Scholarship for PhD study at the Australian National University. In 2015 Neal received the degree of PhD in Economics from the ANU. To RSVP: RSVP to the AARES NSW Marketing Manager, Rod McInnes by 16th September Email: rod.mcinnes@sca.nsw.gov.au Disclaimer: This is a partner event and the text provided above has not been completed by ESA.