This paper presents a formal model of an optimizing firm to examine incentives provided by Australia's full imputation scheme in combination with its capital gains tax provisions. It explores how the tax system affects optimal dividend and financial policy. It derives an expression for the cost of capital for corporate investment which takes account of the way in which corporate tax payments influence firms' ability to pay franked dividends and examines how this is affected by capital gains taxation.

A critical assessment of extension education is needed to ensure there are adequate opportunities for students to study extension education and that the curriculum is relevant to today's Cooperative Extension Service. This descriptive study was conducted to assess extension education curriculum by identifying and comparing the courses being taught at land grant universities with the competency areas in the Ohio State model of extension education. Courses related to extension knowledge, leadership, and management; theories of human development and learning; program planning, implementation, and evaluation; and applied research were most commonly included in the curriculum. The lack of balance in the curriculum and the discrepancies between the Ohio State model and current practice indicate a need for continued discussion about the types of courses that should be included in extension education curriculum.

New Zealand's broad-based GST has often been suggested as a desirable model for a value added tax. This paper explains how New Zealand's GST works and discusses how its broad-based approach came about, why this has been acceptable in New Zealand when it has not been in many other countries, and outlines what we see as problem areas of the tax.

This paper examines how the Australian full imputation and capital gains tax provisions can combine to influence incentives to invest by affecting the cost of capital. Costs of capital for both unincorporated enterprises and widely held, Australian‐owned companies are examined under idealized depreciation provisions. The paper also presents numerical estimates of costs of capital under actual Australian depreciation provisions.

Extension agents serve a critical role in the land-grant mission as they disseminate research to local clientele in the form of educational programs. However, Extension agents face a myriad of challenges, such as the changing scope of clientele and programming, nature of the job, and burnout. Much research focuses specifically on new agent challenges within the first year, however, few studies have focused on early career Extension agents after the initial onboarding process is complete. We used a phenomenological approach to explore the challenges of early career Extension agents, which yielded eleven major themes, such as a lack of understanding Extension, the nature of the job and understanding their role, and personal pressure. Another major theme was the lack of Extension knowledge of early career Extension agents which could stem from the lack of formalized Extension education programs and professional development programs targeted to early career agents. Social capital theory could be used to better understand the social networks of early career Extension agents, how these networks form over time, and what type of impact social networks have on new Extension agents.