In 2002 New Zealand's government-funded primary health care payments were changed from a fee-for-service basis to a capitation basis as part of a change towards a population-based managed care style of primary health care provision. However some specific differences characterise the New Zealand...

Carolyn Cordery presented this paper (co-authored with Bronwyn Howell) at the NZ Association for the study of Cooperatives & Mutuals conference held in Wellington 21-22 June 2012.

Starting in October 2009 with a tender ("Invitation to Participate") procedure the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative the government of New Zealand intends to deliver fiber connections (i.e. 100Mbps/50Mbps) to 75 percent of New Zealanders by 2019. Broadband penetration levels in New Zealand...

The purpose of our study is to provide some additional data to increase understanding of any potential New Zealand geographical differences in business use of the Internet. Consistent with the definition of electronic commerce used in both the MED/BRC and ISCR studies we define "business use of...

Bronwyn Howell recently presented at the 5th Annual Regulatory Evolution Summit held in Wellington on 30 March 2011.

New Zealand's 30 Electricity Lines Businesses (ELBs) combined hold assets with an estimated value of over $8.8 billion (Commerce Commission 2012). The vast majority of analysis of the New Zealand electricity sector has focused on generation retailing and transmission activities. Very little...

Bronwyn Howell presented A Pendulous Progression: New Zealand Telecommunications Regulation 1987-2007 at FICORA (Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority) in June 2007.

Bronwyn Howell presented 'The Antipodean Approach: Government Funded Ultra-Fast Broadband Networks' at the PTC Conference, Honolulu January 2012.

Current Comment is an occasional series providing economic commentary on topical issues.

The business of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) requires labour computers and (typically leased) bandwidth. All these elements are generally competitively available both within countries and internationally. The fact that there are few physical or human capital inputs that are specific to ISP...