Real minimum wages increased by nearly 33% for adults and 123% for teenagers in New Zealand between 1999 and 2008. Where fewer than 2% of workers were being paid a minimum wage at the outset of this sample period, now more than 8% of adult workers and 60% of teenage workers are receiving hourly...

The Global Financial Crises has motivated some to rethink the dominance of global capitalism. This has revived an interest in Marxist doctrine and in particular its examination of the notion of exploitation. Marx’s theory of value is central to his examination of exploitation. This paper will...

The diversion ratio is a key ingredient to the calculation of the Upward Pricing Pressure (UPP) test, which is a new shortcut for screening mergers. It measures the degree of substitutability between the merging goods, which affects the potential for price increase post-merger. There is...

This study empirically explores the determinants of political participation. Using recent data from the European Social Survey (2010/2011), we investigate the relationship between political participation and personal values, via use of the Schwartz (1992) values inventory. Political activities...

This paper investigates the impact of unanticipated Australian monetary policy changes on AUD/USD exchange rate futures, 3-year and 10-year Australian Treasury bond futures, during the period from January 1997 to April 2010. Our study contributes to the literature by using both 30-day and 90-day...

As the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893, New Zealand (NZ) has often been viewed as a leader in the global movement towards gender equality. This paper aims to assess trends in overall well-being for NZ women, by pulling together a range of statistical indicators across five...

Based on the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) and multifractal spectrum analysis, this paper empirically studies the multifractal properties of the Chinese stock index futures market. Using a total of 2,942 ten-minute closing prices, we find that the Chinese stock index...

In this study, we seek to investigate what influences children’s intelligence in early childhood. The Singapore Cohort Study of the Risk Factors of Myopia (SCORM) is used in to assess determinants of childhood IQ and changes in IQ. This longitudinal data set, collected from 1999, includes a...

Increasingly, blogs are being used by educators in higher education for teaching and learning as they have numerous pedagogical benefits. This study describes and analyses the use of blogs as a private journal or e-portfolio for an assessment in a first year bachelor of business programme. Three...