Boosting productivity growth by creating equal workplace opportunities for all
Promoting equal opportunity in the workplace is often framed around fairness. Fairness is important, but this narrow focus overlooks the ways pay gaps and other inequalities affect the wider economy.
This project is about identifying how much the lack of diversity and inclusion costs Aotearoa New Zealand in lost outputs/productivity, and developing practical tools businesses can use to capture the benefits of a more equal workforce.
Research aims
Aim 1: Evaluate potential productivity gains from shifting the dial on workplace diversity.
- What gains has NZ made towards greater workplace diversity?
- What are the potential output and productivity gains from improving the allocation of talent across the economy and creating more equal workplace opportunities?
Aim 2: Evaluate pay equity policy initiatives and intergenerational occupational mobility.
- What are the impacts for social workers affected by pay equity settlements?
- What are the barriers and enablers to greater intergenerational occupational mobility?
Aim 3: Evaluate workplace practices and policies aimed at creating more equal workplace opportunities.
- What workplace practices/policies are empirically associated with more diverse workplaces?
- What examples of workplace policies from Māori and Pacific businesses are aimed at creating more equal opportunities?
- What is the change agent evidence from organisations leading the way in creating more equal workplace opportunities?
Aim 4: Analyse the impact of representation and diversity in workplace leadership and contextual mechanisms for greater representation.
- What is the impact of greater representation in workplace leadership on the labour market trajectories of women and ethnic minorities and on firm performance?
- What are the contextual mechanisms within organisations that have greater representation in leadership that affect labour market outcomes for their workforce?
Aim 5: Evaluate short-term and long-term effects of pay equity settlements.
What are the long-term impacts of pay equity settlements for social workers, and short-term impacts of settlements for teachers?
What we'll do
- Use the Census data going back to 1981 and the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to evaluate productivity gains from increasing workplace diversity
- Evaluate impact for social workers affected by pay equity settlements using the IDI
- Examine barriers and enablers to intergenerational occupational mobility
- Conduct qualitative research with Māori and Pacific business leaders
- Use the IDI and LBD to identify workplace policies/practices associated with more diverse workplaces
- Conduct case study analysis of change agents using UNWEPS data
- Use the IDI to examine gender and ethnic representation of leaders based on the top 10% of earners
- Conduct in-depth interviews with (i) change leaders in community and not-for-profit organisations; and (ii) HR managers and directors in SME businesses
- Use the IDI to examine the relationship between gender and ethnic representation of organisation leaders on the outcomes of their employees
- Evaluate long term impacts of pay equity settlements for social workers and short-term impacts for teachers using the IDI
- Turn our findings into actionable insights for the benefit of businesses and policy makers
For research participants
Project team
The project is being led by the New Zealand Policy Research Institute (NZPRI) at AUT | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau.
Advisory Group
