This paper analyses the effects of a large reform in the minimum wages affecting youth workers in New Zealand since 2001. Prior to this reform, a youth minimum wage, applying to 16-19 year-olds, was set at 60% of the adult minimum. The reform had two components. First, it lowered the eligible...

This paper provides an econometric analysis of the effects of receiving welfare benefits on individuals’ future income, using longitudinal administrative data on individual incomes. After controlling for heterogeneous differences in individual incomes, spurious effects of contemporaneous...

This paper summarises the changing nature of qualifications across the working age population in New Zealand over the period from 1986 to 2001, and investigates the relationships between the changing qualification distribution and employment and income. First, the results confirm that there was...

This paper reports early results from an ongoing analysis of the income dynamics of individuals, using the Inland Revenue Department’s income tax database over the four- year period 1994-7. The first two parts of the paper assess the reliability of the data. The third part reports a...

In 2001 the then Ministry of Social Policy published a comprehensive study of the living standards of older New Zealanders. The current paper revisits the estimated relationship between material well-being and the current income and accommodation costs of older people, and questions the extent...

This paper presents an analysis of changes in the distribution of gross household income and income inequality over the period 1983–1998. The analysis applies a semiparametric approach to study the effects of changes in the distribution of household types, and changes in National...

This work provides an update of changes in the income distribution over the period from 1998-2004, using data from the Household Labour Force Survey's annual Income Supplement (HLFS-IS). We focus on changes in working-age individuals' earnings and total income distribution and, to allow for...

A common finding from international research on firm productivity dynamics is that withinfirm productivity dynamics tend to dominate the effects of firm entry and exit on aggregate productivity. The aim of this paper is to explore the suitability of Statistics New Zealand’s Business Demography...

In this study we investigate Auckland’s economic performance relative to other large cities in New Zealand, to medium-sized urban centres and to small towns and rural areas. Measures of regional economic performance are not well developed in New Zealand and there is a relative lack of official...