Many analyses of firm performance are based upon self-reported measures. However, not only are these likely to be more subject to general reporting error than alternative official sources, but also measures of relative performance may be subject to the biases observed in the psychology...

We use data derived from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) to analyse the currency denomination and hedging behaviour of New Zealand merchandise exporters. For instance: In which currencies are New Zealand merchandise exports by country of destination denominated? Do different types of...

In this paper we examine patterns of merchandise exporting at both the firm level (1996-2005) and the product level (1988-2005). The presentation is descriptive, and is intended to frame future analysis of the determinants and impact of observed trading behaviour. There are two main points of...

We analyse the determinants of national R&D expenditure and patenting activity. In contrast to most related studies, we account for factors that impact on small, distant countries. These factors include country size, firm size, distance from major economic centres, and industrial structure. We...

Which business practices set successful firms apart from others? We address this question using data from an official survey of almost 3,000 New Zealand firms. Questions cover: leadership, planning practices, customer and supplier focus, employee practices, quality and process monitoring,...

We examine the impact of human resource practices on firm performance. The analysis uses data from an economy-wide survey to determine whether firms that adopt certain individual HR practices, or that adopt a suite of practices, perform better than their rivals. We find that adoption of a suite...

In 2006, Statistics New Zealand produced aggregate measures of product, process, organisational & marketing innovation (following the guidelines of the recently-revised Oslo manual). Uniquely, this innovation data has been collected in conjunction with a broader set of qualitative measures of...

This paper investigates the microeconomic dynamics of the New Zealand economy using a powerful new SNZ-held dataset. For the first time, tax data covering operating performance and position (IR10), company income declarations (IR4) and sales & purchases (GST) have been combined with firm-level...