Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T05:34:13.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

What Is Making Vineyard Investment in Northwest Victoria, Australia, Slow to Adjust?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2013

Emayenesh Seyoum-Tegegn
Affiliation:
Senior Quantitative Economist, Economics and Social Research Branch, Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Australia. Email: emma.seyoum@dpi.vic.gov.au
Chris Chan
Affiliation:
Principal Scientist, Economic and Policy Modelling, Economics and Social Research Branch, Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Australia. Email: chris.chan@dpi.vic.gov.au

Abstract

This paper reports a use of the real-options valuation methodology to analyze wine grape vineyard investment under price and yield uncertainty. Threshold annual rates of revenue per hectare to trigger entry and exit, respectively, were calculated for three different sizes of wine grape vineyards in northwest Victoria, Australia. The modeling identified lower exit and higher entry triggers than would be indicated by a conventional approach that ignores the uncertainty underpinning adaptive investment decisions. Between these triggers is a relatively wide gap of estimated indeterminacy in vineyard investment that highlights the intertwined influence of numerous economic factors—cost structure, economies of scale, market volatility, transaction costs, and sunk and salvaged asset valuation. Drawing on these determinants of vineyard investment and disinvestment, the paper discusses the role of investment incentives in affecting industry transformation and the scope for policy intervention to assist structural adjustment of the wine grape sector. (JEL Classification: C61, G11, I25, Q12)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

We would like to thank Dr Anke Leroux of the Department of Economics, Monash University, and Ms Anthea McClintock of NSW Trade and Investment for providing valuable comments on a draft of the paper. Any errors remaining are the authors’ responsibility. Moreover, the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the authors’ employer, namely the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics; various years). Australian Wine and Grape Industry Survey. Cat. no. 1329.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Brennan, M., and Schwartz, E. (1985). Evaluating natural resource investments. Journal of Business, 58, 135157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixit, A. K. (1989). Entry and exit decisions under uncertainty. Journal of Political Economy, 97, 451471.Google Scholar
Dixit, A. K. (1991). Analytical approximations in models of hysteresis. Review of Economic Studies, 58, 141151.Google Scholar
Dixit, A. K., and Pindyck, R. S. (1994). Investment Under Uncertainty. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Dixit, A. K., and Pindyck, R. S. (1995). The option approach to capital investment. Harvard Business Review, 73, 105115.Google Scholar
Graham, J. R., and Harvey, C. R. (2001). The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the field. Journal of Financial Economics, 60, 187243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrigan, K. R. (1981). Deterrents to divestiture. Academy of Management Journal, 24, 306323.Google Scholar
Hull, J. C. (1997). Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Johnson, G. L. (1960). The state of agricultural supply analysis. Journal of Vineyard Economics, 42, 432452.Google Scholar
Jorgensen, D. (1963). Capital theory and investment behavior. American Economic Review, 53, 247257.Google Scholar
Luong, Q. V., and Tauer, L. W. (2006). A real options analysis of coffee planting in Vietnam. Agricultural Economics, 35, 4957.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. (1920). Principles of Economics: An Introductory Volume. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
McDonald, R., and Siegel, D. (1985). Investment and the valuation of firms when there is an option to shut down. International Economic Review, 26, 331349.Google Scholar
Mues, C., and Rodriguez, B. V. (2007). Mildura–Wentworth, A Case Study of Horticultural Vineyard Performance. ABARE Research Report 07.6, ABARE, Canberra.Google Scholar
Osmond, R., and Anderson, K. (1998). Trends and Cycles in the Australian Wine Industry, 1850 to 2000. Centre for International Economic Studies, University of Adelaide.Google Scholar
Price, J. T., and Wetzstein, M. E. (1999). Irreversible investment decisions in perennial crops with yield and price uncertainty. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 24, 173185.Google Scholar
Ryan, S. (2007). Opportunities for Gaining Economies of Scale Through Collaboration. Street Ryan and Associates, Gisborne, Victoria.Google Scholar
Schmit, T. M., Luo, J., and Tauer, L. W. (2009). Ethanol plant investment using net present value and real option analysis. Biomass & Bioenergy, 33, 14421451.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seo, S., Salin, V., Mitchell, P., and Leatham, D. (2004). Effect of revenue insurance on entry and exit decisions in table grape production: a real option approach. Paper presented at American Agricultural Economics Association Meeting, Denver, Colorado, August 1–4.Google Scholar
Summers, L. H. (1987). Investment incentives and discounting of depreciation allowance. In Feldstein, Martin (ed.). The Effect of Taxation on Capital Accumulation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 295304.Google Scholar
Swinburn, G. and MacGregor, A. (2007). Economic Sustainability of Dried Grape Production. Scholefield Robinson Horticultural Services, Mildura, Victoria.Google Scholar
Tauer, L. W. (2006). When to get in and out of dairy farming: a real option analysis. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 35, 339347.Google Scholar