Does homeownership affect individual social capital and thereby influence local outcomes? Following DiPasquale and Glaeser, a body of literature suggests that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. Homeowners have an incentive to engage in the local community in order...

In this paper we estimate the impact of local authority infrastructure spending in New Zealand using spatial econometric modelling, with the infrastructure spending itself endogenously determined. Utilizing data from the New Zealand Census and Local Authorities Finance data (1991-2008),...

House price trends in each of New Zealand and Australia are frequently discussed as national level developments. Sub-national developments are also important, especially where regions display idiosyncratic trends driven either by demand factors (differential income patterns) or by supply factors...

This non-technical ‘think-piece' examines aspects of infrastructure project evaluation, concentrating on circumstances that may render a standard cost benefit analysis (CBA) inappropriate. It is designed to make infrastructure investors and planners think deeply about their assumptions and to...

The Reserve Bank's operational independence, once revolutionary, is shown to now be widely accepted internationally in the fascinating story of how this small central bank took the opportunities created by the political changes of the 1980s to design a unique institutional policy framework,...

We examine the relationship between performance pay systems and wages, paying particular attention to gender differences in outcomes. At the firm level, estimates suggest average wages are unaffected by changes in performance pay practices, but that the within-firm distribution of wages is...

We analyse the multiple channels of influence that GFC-induced credit restrictions had on New Zealand's subnational housing markets. Our model isolates dynamics caused by impacts on the supply and the demand sides of the market. These dynamics are compared to those caused by a migration shock, a...

Survey evidence has revealed large differences in beliefs held by different cultures and ethnicities which may affect their economic prosperity. We study how the beliefs of New Zealand's indigenous Māori about the causes of wealth or poverty and the extent to which people are responsible for...

When small towns experience a major infrastructure shock, such as a ‘mill' closure, the effects can be devastating. We analyse the effects of two major freezing works closures in New Zealand, in Patea (1982) and Whakatu (1986). These two examples provide an interesting comparison: Whakatu is...