We combine firm-level innovation data with area-level Census data to examine the relationship between local workforce characteristics, especially the presence of immigrants and local skills, and the likelihood of innovation by firms. We examine a range of innovation outcomes, and test the...

We examine the correlates of reported hiring difficulties at the firm level using linked employer-employee and panel survey data over 2005-2011, focussing on the relative influence of firm-level characteristics, persistence, the business cycle and local labour market liquidity. At both the...

In New Zealand, the impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was milder than in most other developed countries, with employment declining by 2.5 percent between 2008q4 and 2009q4. Job and worker turnover rates both declined, signalling a reduction in labour market liquidity and difficulties...

New Zealand has seen dramatic changes in minimum wage policies since 2000. The adult minimum wage has increased 75% in CPI-adjusted real terms. In addition, the youth minimum wage was abolished in two stages, resulting in a 125% increase in the real minimum wage for 16-19-year-old workers. We...

We examine heterogeneous rent-sharing in New Zealand using LEED data. Using a refined measures of quasi-rents per worker, we find that 20% to 30% of workers are in zero-excess-rent firms - disproportionately women, Māori or Pacific peoples, low-qualified workers, and those in hospitality, admin...

We study the extent to which firm financial performance is passed on to workers in the form of higher wages and how this has changed over 2002-2018. We measure financial performance as value added per worker and as quasi-rents. Quasi-rents better approximate the resources available to be shared...

We describe an unsupervised method for delineating functional labour market areas (LMAs) in national commuting networks. Our method uses the Louvain algorithm, which we extend to support top-down hierarchical LMA classification and estimable classification stabilities. We demonstrate our method...

Since the 1980s, income inequality in New Zealand has been a growing concern - particularly in metropolitan areas. At the same time, the encouragement of permanent and temporary immigration has led to the foreign-born accounting for a growing share of the population; this is disproportionally so...

We derive a measure of the relatedness between economic activities based on weighted correlations of local employment shares, and use this measure to estimate city and activity complexity. Our approach extends discrete measures used in previous studies by recognising the extent of activities'...

Past research finds evidence that workers' labour market outcomes are enhanced if they live in areas with greater job opportunities and employment density. Using two alternative measures of the employment density and job opportunities faced by workers in the local labour market in which they...