Watch: Identifying bargaining power in Murray-Darling Basin temporary water markets
In case you missed it, find here the recording of the seminar presentation held 19 November 2025.
Speakers: Prof. Sarah Ann Wheeler and Prof. Alec Zuo | Water, Environment and Food economics policy group (WEF group) at the College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University, Australia. Moderator: Prof. Djiby Thiam | Director: WPE – Water and Production Economics, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.
In Australia, water rights have been separated from land, allowing non-farmers to enter the water market, which has led to concerns about limited information transparency and the influence of non-farmers on market dynamics. This study uses two unique databases and hedonic methods to investigate how differences in seller and buyer characteristics influence bargaining power in the two biggest temporary water market trading states: New South Wales and Victoria. Results suggest that bargaining power can be primarily attributed to seller-buyer variation in rainfall, temperature, groundwater salinity, and allocation percentages, reflecting underlying demand and supply dynamics. Notably, financial investors in New South Wales seem to demonstrate significant (yet still relatively small) bargaining power than other owners, likely due to superior access to market information and greater trading flexibility. While current water market prices reflect water scarcity, findings suggest that enhancing transparency and market liquidity could reduce trader asymmetries and improve efficiency. More
This seminar is part of the UCT-UCR Seminar Series: Water Economics and Politics, a collaboration between the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of California, Riverside (UCR). Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on upcoming sessions.