Project reports
Please find below a selection of our completed project reports.
New Zealand Crime and Victims Research: The burden of crime victimisation among the LGBTQ+ population in Aotearoa
This report compares crime victimisation rates between LGBTQ+ individuals and the general population in Aotearoa New Zealand, using data from the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS). LGBTQ+ individuals report substantially higher rates of victimisation in the past 12 months — 45.5% compared to 31.8% for non-LGBTQ+ individuals. This difference hardly changes even after accounting for sociodemographic differences (e.g., age or location of residence). LGBTQ+ individuals are also likelier to attribute their victimisation to their sexual orientation or gender identity and report more severe impacts, such as physical injuries and work absences.
The costs of crime victimisation in Aotearoa: Evidence from the NZ Crime & Victims Survey linked to administrative data
This report analyses data from the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey, combined with administrative records, to explore how victimisation impacts employment, earnings, and health. Results show that victims, particularly of interpersonal violence and serious offences, experience significant declines in both employment and earnings, with these effects lasting for up to three years. Victims also see an increase in benefit receipt, and while injury claims rise, the impact tends to be short-lived.
Intergenerational transmission of human capital: what makes and breaks the cycle of advantage and disadvantage?
This report uses data from the longitudinal Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) study tracking the health and development of a cohort of children born in 2009-2010, to investigate the intergenerational transmission of human capital by studying the relationship between mothers’ educational attainment and children’s cognitive skills (vocabulary, reading, and overall cognitive skills at age 8 years). Results show that mothers’ education is strongly linked to children’s cognitive skills – the higher the mothers’ educational attainment, the better children’s cognitive skills are, on average.
Reframing approaches to workplace violence towards Pacific homecare workers in New Zealand and Australia
Workplace violence and harassment are increasing in the mostly female-dominated homecare industry. Despite this, there is a significant lack of research on the experiences of Pacific homecare workers, many of whom are temporary migrants and work in settings affected by racist attitudes and policies stemming from the historical and current labour market and migration policies in New Zealand and Australia. This article suggests a new research and policy approach to workplace violence that focuses on Pacific voices and culture to improve how to address and prevent violence and harassment experienced by Pacific homecare workers.
Chinese and Indian migrant mothers’ perceptions and experiences of utilising maternal and early childhood healthcare services in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative descriptive study
This journal article is a qualitative descriptive study on the perceptions and experiences of Chinese and Indian migrant mothers accessing maternal and early childhood healthcare services. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Co-creating inclusion in research practices in the South Pacific: some highlights and challenges
This journal article looks into the collaborative efforts to foster inclusive research practices in the Oceania region. It serves dual purposes. Firstly, the authors advocate for Pacific and international business (IB) researchers to consider adopting inclusive research practices, particularly regarding Pacific and indigenous populations. Secondly, the authors argue that decolonisation presents conflicting challenges, demonstrating that the authors still have a long way to go regarding the decolonisation agenda within academia, the university, IB and broader society.
A Mātauranga Māori Perspective of Literacy for Adult Learners
This article aims to draw attention to the aspirations for literacy policy and practice described in Māori-led responses to the Ministry of Education’s Adult Literacy Strategy and subsequent policy statements and embodied in the practices of some tertiary organisations. The Māori view of literacy includes literacy in te reo Māori and English but extends beyond alphabetic text, emphasising embodied practices focused on reading the world culturally, spatially, and socially. We argue that current adult literacy policy does not enable a Māori perspective of literacy to flourish.
Adult literacy and numeracy in Aotearoa New Zealand: How does current research and organisational reporting align with the Living Standards Framework?
The paper examines the connections between adult literacy and numeracy viewed from a sociomaterial perspective, wellbeing outcomes, and the Living Standards Framework (LSF) – a wellbeing-focused framework underpinning all policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In their voice: Adult learners’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing
This report examines mainly Māori adults’ experiences as they navigate their lives and develop their literacy and numeracy skills towards their aspirations for themselves and their families.
Wāhine Māori engagement with literacies
This case study report examines the framing and application of literacy measures in contemporary New Zealand culture. More specifically, it is about the lives and learning of wāhine (women) Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) within that culture and their attitudes towards, and complex relationships with, literacy as it is defined in their own lives and in the current setting.
Research Summary In their voice: Adult learners’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing
This research summary outlines the background, purpose and key findings/insights of a project titled In their voice: Adult learners’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing.
Reading and mathematics skills and the life-course outcomes of young people in NZ: Evidence from PISA and linked administrative data
This paper examines the life-course trajectories of a cohort of NZ youth who participated in PISA 2009 when they were 15-years old by using linked administrative data to track their outcomes until 2020. PISA is a worldwide study that assesses key competencies of 15-year-old students, with a focus on reading, mathematics and science. This paper compares the outcomes of the nearly one-fifth of NZ students who were assessed at below Level 2 in either reading or mathematics (or both), which the OECD considers to be a ‘baseline’ level of proficiency, with those at or above this baseline. It finds that students with low measured skills have less favourable outcomes in a number of areas. They have lower rates of participation in, and completion of, further education. They also have lower employment rates and average earnings, with labour market differences between the low-skills and above-baseline groups being particularly stark among women.
Literacy and numeracy skills and life-course outcomes: Evidence from PIAAC and linked administrative data
This paper examines the life-course trajectories of NZ adults across different skill levels in literacy and numeracy. This is done by using administrative data and skill information collected in a PIAAC survey of the working-age adult population (aged 16-65 years). The outcomes of the one-fifth of NZ working-age adults who were assessed at below Level 2 in either literacy or numeracy (or both) are compared with those at or above this baseline. Results show that adults with low measured skills have less favourable outcomes in a number of areas. They have lower rates of educational attainment, lower employment rates and average earnings, higher rates of hospitalisation, and higher rates of criminal offending and convictions.
Adult literacy and numeracy programmes and labour market outcomes
This paper uses population-wide administrative data to examine adult literacy and numeracy (L+N) programmes in New Zealand and its effect on individuals' labour market outcomes, further education and training, and workplace accidents.
Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceptions of national scheduled childhood vaccines among Māori and Pacific caregivers, whānau, and healthcare professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand
This qualitative journal article examines the marked decrease in the uptake of routine childhood vaccinations since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among Māori and Pacific children. The researchers undertook culturally informed interviews and discussions with Māori and Pacific caregivers and healthcare professionals to understand their perceptions of routine (nationally recommended) childhood vaccines. The findings conclude that to improve uptake and immunization experiences for whānau, Māori and Pacific-led vaccination strategies should be embedded in immunization service delivery.
View the journal article here
Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood vaccine uptake with integrated administrative data
This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood vaccination coverage in NZ using population-wide administrative data. The study compares children who became eligible for immunisation during the pandemic to earlier born cohorts and finds that the initial phase of the pandemic had, on average, small or nil effects on timely immunisation at the four infancy events, but a large effect at the 4-year event of -15 percentage points.
Rethinking Oceanic-Pacific Methods of Data Collection During COVID-19: Insights From the Field
COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted research regarding data collection methods during lockdowns and border closures. Consequently, online methods have become the present-day benchmark. This article shares our experiences adapting to COVID-19 while conducting focus groups and online interviews. Guided by the Samoan methodology Teu le va that recognises the special relationships between people from a Samoan context and the Talanoa method of storytelling of the Pacific people, we provide insights concerning the practical and cultural challenges of collecting data during lockdowns that strengthened the continuation and completion of the project.
Community support workers' experiences of working during the COVID-19 pandemic
This paper investigates the way in which COVID-19 has exacerbated the poor work conditions within community support work in Aotearoa-New Zealand. It examines the invisibility of care work in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of Government policy and communication, societal recognition of care work, and the spatially hidden nature of the work. It does so within the of gender norms in the socio-cultural, socio-spatial and socio-legal spheres that render this work and workers invisible. This paper documents the experiences of community support workers and contributes to our theoretical understanding of frontline health workers’ experiences of work during a global public health crisis.
'Try, Learn, Adjust'
Aotearoa New Zealand is on the verge of significant change aimed at increasing disabled people’s access to and control and choice over the support they receive in order to have the flexible, high-quality care that enables them to lead ‘good’ lives. However, the system changes – Mana Whaikaha – designed to enact the Enabling Good Lives policy has its roots in neo-liberal funding and policy approaches that undervalue support work, and has largely overlooked workers and workforce development. The lack of recognition of the disability support workforce in this policy development threatens the success of the programme to provide quality support to disabled people.
Human capital formation and changes in low pay persistence
This study presents new empirical evidence on the role of time trends in low pay persistence. We utilize population-wide tax records to track monthly labour market trajectories of initially low-paid workers. By performing age- and qualification-specific regressions, we find that low pay persistence reduces with time. However, the magnitude is highly heterogeneous across workforce characteristics. For a qualified worker in their early 20s, the risk of staying on low-pay declines by, on average, 5–10% points after one year. For a worker in their 50s, persistence remains almost unchanged regardless of their qualification level. We conclude that policy initiatives need to be more nuanced than a simple one-size-fits-all approach by accounting for time trends in low-pay persistence.
Reading Engagement and Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand
This research paper aims to disentangle the effects of two different aspects of literacy, literacy proficiency as measured by standardized tests, and reading engagement as measured by self-reports of everyday reading activities. The paper uses multivariate regression models on nationally representative survey data from New Zealand, to estimate the effects of reading engagement on earnings, health, social trust, political efficacy, and civic engagement.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Skills & Outcomes of NZ Youth
This research paper examines the life-course trajectories of a cohort of NZ youth using linked administrative data to track their outcomes. It finds that students with low measured skills have less favourable outcomes in a number of areas. Outcomes for Māori in both the low-skills and above-baseline groups are less favourable than those of their NZ European counterparts.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Skills & Life-course Trajectories of NZ Adults
This paper examines the life-course trajectories of NZ adults across different skill levels in literacy and numeracy. Findings show that adults with low measured skills have less favourable outcomes in a number of areas. They have lower rates of educational attainment, lower employment rates and average earnings, higher rates of hospitalisation, and higher rates of criminal offending and convictions.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Harmful traditional practices in the workplace - New Zealand context: Guidance for best practice
Honour Abuse Research Matrix (HARM) is an international consortium of researchers, practitioners, policy makers and support agencies, working to research and pioneer strategies to eliminate harmful practices, including ‘honour’ abuse, forced marriage, and female genital mutilation (FGM). HARM, UK version was funded by Research England to produce this jargonfree, evidence-based, workplace guidance for best practice so organisations and their employees feel motivated, confident, and empowered to respond appropriately when they suspect or encounter harmful traditional practices.
The authors' recommendations are based on a Rapid Evidence Review of the most up-to-date research. With manaakitanga, the authors acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi and the tangata whenua. This report is designed to inform all public, private, and third sector organisations, of any size. This report is also useful for professionals and families, in understanding and facilitating hidden and visible harms pertaining to domestic/intimate partner/spouse abuse, forced marriage and FGM.
View the report
Fathers' household and childcare involvement in New Zealand: A snapshot, determinants and consequences
This report uses data from the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) birth cohort to provide a snapshot of fathers' engagement during the early years of their lives, to analyse the determinants of fathers' engagement, and analyse potential consequences of different levels of fathers' engagement on children's outcomes.
Funder(s): The Ministry of Social Development
Paying Adolescents for Health Screenings Works
With regard to their future health, adolescents are at a critical stage. Previous evaluations have shown that health screenings, counselling, and other intervention programmes during this phase of life are important, particularly for those with a low socio-economic background. Unfortunately, adolescents tend to have little interest in preventive programmes. We designed a field experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of financial incentives to promote participation in health screenings. Our study comprises more than 10,000 participants, observed via high-quality administrative data from Austria.
Māori care and support workers. Data from the 2019 New Zealand Care Workforce Survey
The purpose of this report is to present the experiences of Māori care and support workers working in residential aged care, home and community support, disability support and mental health and addiction. This report is a companion report to The New Zealand Care Workforce Survey 2019 Report (Ravenswood et al., 2021) and The Impact of the Pay Equity Settlement: Data from the 2019 Care Workforce Survey (Ravenswood and Douglas, 2021) and is based on the responses from 353 of the total (n=1,784 care and support worker respondents) who identified as Māori.
The Pacific workforce and the impact of COVID-19
This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 (COVID) on the labour market disparities between Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZ European). To analyse these disparities, we assess labour market outcomes for the pre-pandemic period (January 2017–December 2019, inclusive) and quantify how they changed during the COVID period (March 2020–June 2021, inclusive). We are interested in understanding whether COVID amplified ethnic disparities in job accession and benefit dependence; job and wage mobility; and job separation.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
NZ Superannuation residency eligibility changes: Evidence from border movement data
In November 2021, amendments to the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 increased the residential qualification total time requirement from 10 to 20 years. As a first step for understanding the potential impact of the NZ Super residency criteria change, this report uses Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to examine how long NZ-born emigrants live overseas and estimate the size of the population potentially affected by this change.
Funder(s): Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission
KiwiSaver and migrants on temporary visas
This report follows 70,305 NZ migrants aged 18 or over, and tracks their visa status and border movements from 2010 to 2019. The aim of this analysis is to provide insights into how long migrants stay on temporary visas before progressing to a visa type that allows them to stay in NZ indefinitely and therefore have access to KiwiSaver as a means for convenient retirement savings.
Funder(s): Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission
View the report
Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry - Empirical analysis of Pacific, Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand
This research note aims to explore the factors that contribute / explain the Māori and ethnic pay gaps in New Zealand. In particular, pay gaps for Māori, Pacific, and Asians relative to Europeans. We use Stats NZ data from the Household Labour Force Survey for 2019 and 2020.
Funder(s): Human Rights Commission
The gender reveal: The effect of sons on young fathers' criminal behaviour and labor market activities
We use New Zealand's administrative court charges data to document child gender-specific differences in future criminal behaviour of young fathers.
Journal: Labour Economics
The Devil is in the Details: Identifying Unbiased Link Between Alcohol Purchasing Rights and Youth Delinquency
This article utilises the Integrated Data Infrastructure to examine the effect of an alcohol-purchasing legislation change on alcohol-induced criminal behaviour at the minimum purchasing age.
Voices from the Front Line
This report utilises a qualitative and quantitative survey (n=396) to highlight employment and work concerns in the hospitality sector such as problematic pay and working conditions, a high proportion of insecure contracts, bullying and harassment, and non-compliance with employment law.
The Impact of the Pay Equity Settlement: Data from the 2019 New Zealand Care Workforce Survey
This report presents the experiences of those working in residential aged care, home and community support, disability support and mental health and addiction in relation to the impact of the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) 2017 Act (and subsequent amendments). This report is a companion report to The New Zealand Care Workforce Survey 2019 Report (Ravenswood et al., 2021) and follows up qualitative research on the impact of the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) 2017 Act (Douglas and Ravenswood, 2019).
Māori Māmā views and experiences of vaccinating their pēpi and tamariki: A qualitative Kaupapa Māori study
This report explores the complex social and cultural reasons that Māori may be less likely to engage with childhood vaccination services. Delayed immunisation is a factor strongly associated with increasing rate of infectious diseases.
Funder(s): Te Hiringa Hauora/Health Promotion Agency
Glass hearts?! Successful visible ethnic minority women migrants at work in Iceland and New Zealand
Our qualitative empirical research reveals, and compares, how visible ethnic women migrants (VEWM) experience their journey to professional success in Iceland and New Zealand. The findings reveal that for VEWM success is a continuous journey with many different challenges. For VEWM in Iceland, success means independent hard work and aligning with other women. VEWM in New Zealand experience success through religion and giving back to the community.
Journal: Journal of Management and Organization
The Effectiveness of Sinking Lid Policies in Reducing Gambling Expenditure
Sinking lids are designed to gradually reduce machine caps by prohibiting the transfer of gaming licenses. This study leverages variation in the geography and timing of local policy interventions to estimate the effect of sinking lids on gambling expenditure. Results suggest that sinking lids reduce gambling expenditure by 13% relative to regions not adopting policies beyond national-level restrictions.
Journal: Journal of Gambling Studies
Adult literacy and numeracy intervention landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand
This working paper describes the literacy and numeracy (L+N) intervention landscape in Aotearoa ascertained from discussions with key stakeholders in the sector. These discussions were focused on high-level government policy and strategy, specific provider and referral pathways, and the type of individuals for whom L+N learning is designed.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
When there is no way up: Reconsidering low-paid jobs as stepping-stones
The economic literature considers a low-paid job as a ‘steppingstone’ if it improves jobless individuals’ future likelihood of transitioning towards higher pay. Using population-wide administrative data with monthly earnings information, our study first confirms the stepping-stone effect but also indicates that annual survey-based evidence on the future likelihood of transitioning to higher-paid jobs is likely overstated.
Journal: Economic Record
Youth Unemployment and Stigmatization Over the Business Cycle in Europe
This paper studies the dynamics of the scarring effect of youth unemployment over the business cycle in 12 European countries. On the one hand, we analyse differences associated with the negative effect of past unemployment experiences on future labour market status. And, on the other hand, we consider the potential stigmatization of prospective young workers.
Journal: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
Benchmarking the Productivity Performance of New Zealand's Frontier Firms
This study compares the relative performance of New Zealand’s firms to several small advanced economies using novel cross-country microdata from CompNet. Results show that New Zealand’s firms have comparatively low productivity levels and that its frontier firms are not benefiting from the diffusion of best technologies outside the nation.
Journal: International Productivity Monitor
The effect of upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland
We study the short-run effects of a large-scale upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland, New Zealand. Upzoning significantly increases the redevelopment premium. Notably, intensively developed properties decrease in value relative to similar dwellings that were not upzoned, showing that the large-scale upzoning had an immediate depreciative effect on preexisting intensive housing.
Journal: Urban Studies
The Role of Ethnicity in Criminal Behaviour
This paper establishes that ethnicity matters for criminal behavior. Exploiting the gender of the first-born child on fathers’ conviction rates, this is the first paper to document behavioral differences in parental criminality between ethnic groups. We show that the effect of having a son on father’s criminal behavior is entirely driven by the white part of the population.
Performance-based aid, enhanced advising, and the income gap in college graduation
Income gaps in college enrollment, persistence, and graduation raise concerns for those interested in equal opportunity in higher education. The program focused solely on the first four semesters of enrollment and tied aid disbursements to modest academic benchmarks and enhanced academic advising. Meaningful decreases in time to degree appear to be driven by students with the lowest academic preparation and family income.
Journal: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Impact of state children’s health insurance program on fertility of immigrant women
Insurance Programme (SCHIP) to provide publicly funded health insurance coverage for children in low-income families. We estimate the effect of a publicly funded children’s health insurance benefit on immigrant women’s fertility. We find a significant positive effect on the fertility of unmarried immigrant women, both at the extensive and at the intensive margin.
Journal: Applied Economics Letters
Do you really want to share everything? The wellbeing of work-linked couples
Work as well as family life are crucial sources of human wellbeing, which however often interfere. Our results suggest that being work-linked increases satisfaction with life as well as income and job satisfaction. These findings are consistent with positive assortative matching and mutual career support between work-linked partners.
Journal: IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Capping Gambling in NZ: The Effectiveness of Local Government Policy Intervention
This research analyses the effects of Class 4 gambling policies on the availability of non-casino gambling machines, also known as pokies, and associated gambling behaviour. This research assesses the impact of Class 4 gambling policies on pokie machine and venue availability, as well as gambling expenditure.
Funder(s): Ministry of Health
An empirical portrait of New Zealand adults living with low literacy and numeracy skills
The aim of this research paper is to provide a comprehensive portrait of the population living with low literacy and/or numeracy (L/N) skills in NZ.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Reading components, reading engagement and literacy proficiency in Aotearoa New Zealand
This working paper develops multivariate models of how reading component processes are related to the higher order literacy proficiency assessed by the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and to adults’ engagement with reading in everyday life.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Adult literacy and numeracy in Aotearoa New Zealand
This working paper provides a literature review to define ‘skill’ and the related concept of competency, and how these terms are associated with literacy and numeracy. It looks at how the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) defines and measures skills.
Funder(s): Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Is It Time to Let go of the Past? Effect of Clean Slate Regulation on Employment and Earnings
We focus on New Zealand’s clean slate legislation to analyze whether automatic concealment of criminal records improves ex offenders’ labor market outcomes. Implementation of the clean slate scheme has no statistically relevant impact on employment propensity. However, the rehabilitative intervention results in a 2-2.5% increase in employed individuals’ monthly earnings.
Evaluating the impact of 20 hours free early childhood education on mothers’ labour force participation and earnings
New Zealand introduced a substantial childcare subsidy just over a decade ago, providing 20 hours free early childhood education (ECE) to all three and four year olds. The estimated impact of the ECE reform is a drop in earnings for eligible women, by four to ten percent post-childbirth. Furthermore, most of the reduction occurs prior to the children reaching the age of eligibility.
Journal: New Zealand Economic Papers
The devil is in the details: Identifying the unbiased link between access to alcohol and criminal behavior
The minimum alcohol purchasing age in New Zealand was lowered from 20 to 18 in December 1999. Focusing on two distinct legislative regimes, we utilize a national-level census of criminal convictions to examine the impact of unrestricted alcohol purchasing rights on alcohol-related crime. We do not find a statistically meaningful increase in overall measures of alcohol-related crimes at the minimum legal alcohol purchasing age.
Not Much Bounce in the Springboard: On the Mobility of Low Pay Workers
Estimating economic earnings mobility is imperative for understanding the degree to which low pay employment is a temporary or long-term position. We find that individuals with a strong attachment to the low pay sector have a very low probability of shifting into higher pay and a greater risk of experiencing a low pay-no pay cycle relative to those who are intermediate or higher paid.
Journal: IZA Institute of Labor Economics
In and out of unemployment-labour market dynamics and the role of testosterone
In this paper, we use population variation in testosterone levels to explain transition probabilities into and out of unemployment. We find that individuals with high testosterone levels are more likely to become unemployed, but they are also more likely to exit unemployment. We argue that these effects are likely driven by personality traits and occupational sorting of men with high testosterone levels.
Child gender, ethnicity, and criminal behavior after birth
This paper aims to challenge the implicitly made assumption in the economics of crime literature that findings are universally applicable across cultures and race. We replicate the results of an earlier study by Dustmann and Landersø (2018) in New Zealand and find that when splitting out by ethnicity, the effect is entirely driven by the white part of the population.
Does broad-based merit aid improve college completion? Evidence from New Mexico's lottery scholarship
We use the natural experiment of a state lottery scholarship to measure the effect of generous financial aid on graduation rates at New Mexico’s flagship public university. We find a significant positive completion effect of 10 percentage points (17.9 percent) for academically well-prepared students that is offset by a large negative effect of 11.6 percentage points (38.8 percent) for less-prepared students.
Journal: Education, Finance and Policy
Productivity in New Zealand: The role of resource allocation among firms
This paper analyses the role of resource allocation in NewZealand’s productivity performance by applying a three-factor revenue productivity measure of within-industry misallocation to firm-level data. It finds that if all market distortions were eliminated, total factor productivity could increase by more than a third.
Journal: New Zealand Economic Papers
The effect of interest rate caps on bankruptcy: Synthetic control evidence from recent payday lending bans
Citing consumer protection concerns, several states have recently enacted interest rate caps on small loans. We test whether these laws caused a decrease in the number of payday-lending establishments and subsequently prompted variation on incidence of bankruptcy filings. Our results show payday-lending establishments drop by approximately 100%–a banishment of the industry.
Journal: Journal of Banking and Finance
Suddenly a stay-at-home dad? The effect of fathers’ job loss on time investment in the household
We provide novel evidence on the short- and long-run effects of an exogenous shock on paternal availability, through a job loss, on the allocation of domestic work within couples. We find that paternal child care and housework significantly increase in the short run on weekdays, while we do not see any similar shifts on weekends.
Journal: IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Drinking is different! Examining the role of locus of control for alcohol consumption
We examine whether locus of control (LOC) can explain alcohol consumption as an important domain of health behavior. LOC measures how much an individual believes that she is in control of the consequences of her own actions for her life’s future outcomes. We find a significant positive effect of having an internal LOC on the probability of moderate and regular drinking.
Journal: IZA Institute of Labor Economics
Auckland’s Pre-Covid-19 Labour Market
We have created a 3-part infographic series on Auckland’s pre-covid-19 labour market. Understanding how the labour market has been impacted by covid-19 should help us answer some meaningful policy questions in future, such as: What will Auckland’s post-covid-19 labour market look like and how can policy help it recover?
Health Care Home: Early Evidence from Linked Administrative Data in New Zealand
Our analysis presents a case study on the impacts of Health Care Home (HCH) – a large-scale technology-based healthcare innovation in New Zealand’s primary healthcare system. HCH results in a statistically significant reduction in the likelihood of emergency department (ED) presentations by 6-8 percent, with no significant impacts on other health outcomes.
Journal: The BE Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy
Understanding the transient population: insights from linked administrative data
There is growing evidence that frequent residential relocation is often associated with adverse socio-economic outcomes related to education, health and wellbeing. Prior research aimed at exploring the extent of residential movement has usually been restricted to survey evidence or infrequent census data. We derive working definitions for the transient and vulnerable transient.
Journal: Journal of Population Research
An empirical examination of the gender pay gap in New Zealand
New Zealand has often been described as a leader in the field of gender equality. Yet, while women have achieved substantial gains in a range of outcomes (education and labour force participation for example), the gender pay gap has changed very little. We find that this gap is largely unexplained (83 per cent).
Journal: New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations
Explaining ethnic disparities in bachelor’s degree participation: Evidence from NZ
There are substantial ethnic gaps in higher education in NZ, despite considerable policy effort aimed at this concern. This study uses newly linked administrative data to examine the underachievement of Māori and Pasifika relative to Europeans. Utilising Fairlie decompositions, we find that school performance is by far the largest contributor to the ethnic gaps.
Journal: Studies in Higher Education
The British low-wage sector and the employment prospects of the unemployed
The labour market dynamics of unemployed, low-paid and higher-paid employed men are analysed. Moreover, the respective (un)employment duration and occupational skill level are accounted for. Results show that in general low wages significantly reduce the risk of future unemployment and increase the chances of ascending the salary ladder, especially in the case of long-term unemployment (>360 days).
Journal: Applied Economics
Local unemployment changes the springboard effect of low pay: Evidence from England
There is considerable debate on whether the employment and earnings prospects are better for those on low pay or for the unemployed. We estimate dynamic random effects panel models, which show robust evidence that the future unemployment risk is lower for those who are currently on low pay compared to those who are currently unemployed. The low-paid also have a higher chance than the unemployed of becoming higher-paid.
Journal: PLoS One
Youth response to state cyberbullying laws
This study examines the relationship between state cyberbullying laws (which require schools to enact effective guidelines to address cyberbullying) and the reporting behavior of youth. Key results indicate that adoption of a cyberbullying law is related to statistically significant increases in the likelihood that students report experiences of being victimized by electronic bullying.
Journal: New Zealand Economic Papers
The Physical Work Environment
This project examines how the physical work environment, and the way that change to the physical environment is managed, affects employees on outcomes such as wellbeing, the quality of their interpersonal relationships, and productivity.
The impact of child welfare legislation on domestic violence‐related homicide rates
State‐specific statutes providing legal consequences for perpetrating domestic violence in the presence of a child have been enacted across the United States between 1996 and 2012. We find a significant drop in domestic violence‐related homicide rates, when considering a wide range of victim–offender relationships. However, this result does not hold for marital homicides, suggesting that for this subpopulation, the risk of reprisaland consequent reduction in reporting may be counterbalancing the hypothesized deterrent impacts of the legislation.
Journal: Health Economics
Warrantless arrest laws for domestic violence: How are youth affected?
This study empirically examines the impact of warrantless arrest laws (designed to deter domestic violence) on multiple youth outcomes in the US. There is no direct link between warrantless arrest laws and domestic violence‐related homicides. However, we do find evidence that arrest laws result in a drop in the probability of youth experiencing suicidal ideation and substance use behaviour.
Journal: BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy
Making the invisible visible: Advancing quantitative methods in higher education using critical race theory and intersectionality
We appeal to critical race theory and intersectionality to examine achievement gaps at a large public university in the American southwest from 2000 to 2015. Using white, high-income women as our reference group, we find substantial achievement gaps that remain unseen in conventional models treating such characteristics as independent.
Journal: Race, Ethnicity and Education
Family size effects on childhood obesity: Evidence on the quantity-quality trade-off using the NLSY
In this study, we use matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Surveys to study the effects of family size on child health. Focusing on excess body weight indicators as children’s health outcome of interest, we examine the effects of exogenous variations in family size generated by twin births and parental preference for mixed sex composition of their children. We find no significant empirical support in favor of the quantity-quality trade-off theory in instrumental variable regression analysis.
Journal: Economics & Human Biology
The Value of Care: the 2017 Pay Equity Settlement
Dr Julie Douglas and Associate Professor Katherine Ravenswood conducted focus groups and interviews with managers and care support workers to understand how the 2017 Pay Equity Settlement on the residential aged care, home and community care and disability sectors' affected their work experiences.
Temporary-permanent wage gap: Does type of work and location in distribution matter?
This study focusses on the pay outcome with respect to the temporary workforce in New Zealand. Our findings signal that the majority of the temporary-permanent wage differences can be explained by observable characteristics, with no wage gap evident for fixedterm workers. We also find varying effects across the wage distribution.
Journal: Australian Journal of Labour Economics
Does integration lead to lower costs of equity?
Recent evidence has suggested that the benefits of equity market integration may not be shared equally by all firms. Making use of a firm-level measure of integration we investigate whether one of the documented benefits of equity market integration, lower cost of equity capital (COEC), holds for all Australian firms. Our results indicate that increased integration at the firm level leaves firms exposed to higher COEC when world market conditions are volatile.
Journal: Australian Journal of Management
Becoming unemployed and poor in Great Britain
In this study on Great Britain, we estimate the labour market and income process of prime-aged men simultaneously and control for spillover effects. Evidence is presented that the risk of becoming unemployed and poor increases with the duration of unemployment and decreases with the duration of employment.
Journal: Applied Economics Letters
Scoping the costs of homelessness in New Zealand
This report reviews the international literature on quantifying the cost of homelessness, with a view to identifying methodologies (and the appropriate data) that may be useful in a New Zealand (NZ) context. We conduct a survey of the literature and a data scoping exercise within this report - the data is sourced from the newly available linked administrative data (Integrated Data Infrastructure) available from Statistics NZ.
Funder(s): Lottery Community Sector Research Committee
The Attitude Gap Challenge: Research Evidence and Case Studies
The purpose of this report is to provide a short research summary of each of the six key focus areas, summarising research findings from international and New Zealand (NZ) literature. Furthermore, several of the key focus areas also include case studies which provide examples of how companies implemented specific strategies which enabled them to overcome the challenges associated with that area.
Y-NEET: Empirical Evidence for New Zealand
Reducing the number of youth not in employment, education, or training (Y-NEET) has become a key focus of government policies. We found that 12% of youth aged 16-24 years in NZ were NEET; 65% of all Y-NEETs resided in either the Auckland, Waikato, Wellington or Canterbury local government regions; Y-NEETs were generally more likely to be aged 20-24 years; female; and be of NZ European or Maori descent.
Religious Diversity in New Zealand Workplaces
This report focusses on the need to acknowledge that we are now also more religiously diverse than ever before and if we are to live up to our reputation as being one the world’s most peaceful countries then we need to respect, understand and educate ourselves about New Zealanders' faiths and cultures.
Understanding Insecure Work
This project began by asking what could learned from the second Survey of Working Life (SoWL) released by Statistics NZ. While some excellent analytic work had resulted from the first SoWL in 2008, there was little official work planned on the second survey, and many issues around insecure work in NZ remained to be addressed.
Funder(s): Ministry of Innovation, Business and Employment
The changing influence of societal culture on job satisfaction across Europe
This paper investigates the longitudinal stability and impact of societal cultural values (SCVs) – as opposed to the more common organizational values – on job satisfaction. Results indicate that the strength of many SCVs has declined, the impacts of traditional societal values on job satisfaction have remained fairly constant, and the impacts of survival societal values on job satisfaction have declined substantially over this sample period.
Journal: British Journal of Management
Changes in intra-city employment patterns: a spatial analysis
This analysis is aimed at better understanding what socio-economic actors are associated with shifts in unemployment rates across a major metropolitan city. The key socio-economic drivers associated with intra-city employment dynamics were vehicle access, dependency rates and educational attainment.
Journal: International Journal of Social Economics
Job satisfaction: How crucial is participative decision making?
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the role of perceived ability to participate in decision making in the workplace, with respect to job satisfaction. The results are negatively biased; potentially indicating that prior research may have underestimated the impact of participative decision making (PDM) on job satisfaction. Additionally, it appears clear that the magnitude of the marginal effects for both socio-demographic and work characteristics do not differ when comparing workers with above and below average participation.
Journal: Personnel Review
Temporary versus permanent employment: Does health matter?
Poor health may inhibit active participation in the labour market and restrict the types of employment available to an individual. This paper uses recent survey data from New Zealand to find that health issues (and in particular mental health) are negatively related to the likelihood of being employed; and entering full-time and / or permanent employment.
Journal: Australian Journal of Labour Economics
Is temporary employment a cause or consequence of poor mental health? A panel data analysis
Mental health status often has a strong association with labour market outcomes. We reveal that permanent workers with poor mental health appear to select into temporary employment thus signalling that prior studies may overestimate the influence of employment type on mental health. We also reveal that this selection effect is significantly mitigated by job satisfaction.
Journal: Social Science & Medicine
Student engagement and exam performance: It’s (still) ability that matters most
The use of online quizzes has become more popular in introductory economics courses in recent years, however their efficacy in improving student engagement and performance has seldom been evaluated. This paper attempts to undertake an evaluation of that efficacy by combining individual engagement and exam performance data with demographic information for a cohort of students enrolled in a first year economics course.
Journal: Australiasian Journal of Economics Education
Moving through the political participation hierarchy: A focus on personal values
Using data from the European Social Survey, we investigate the relationship between political participation and personal values, using the Schwartz (1992) values inventory. A political participation hierarchy is theorized, and activities are categorized into four levels of participation (none, weak, medium and strong), based on the cost of participating and how unconventional the activity is. Empirical analysis points to individuals who are more open to change and more self-transcendent, being more likely to participate.
Journal: Applied Economics
Telework briefing: A future of work programme report
In mid-2013 we conductedinterview with workers in sectors commonly associated with telework: financial services; professional, scientific and technical services; information, media and telecommunications etc. This briefing document summarises the key lessons on managing telework learned from these organisations in order to provide guidance for managers implementing or reviewing telework within their organisations.
Revolutions from Grub Street: A history of the magazine publishing industry
A comprehensive review of over 300 years of the business of magazine publishing in the UK. This project examined how firms adapted to changing competitive conditions, examining the impacts of technological changes and its impacts on production processes, labour, firm strategy and structure, unions and patterns of employment. A major output was a widely reviewed monograph.
Trans-Tasman Telework Survey
The primary aim of this study was to examine manager and employee perspectives on telework productivity and wellbeing. The study surveyed almost 100 HR and team managers and over 1800 staff across 50 Australian and New Zealand organisations. Managers were interviewed on issues such as telework policy, processes, attitudes and outcomes, while organisational members were surveyed on-line on their telework experience, with a focus on support for telework, telework productivity, and wellbeing outcomes.
Other reports
Our document library holds reports for surveys, projects, presentations and Big Data. Working papers are also released here regularly.