We examine the relationship between the presence of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and local growth, using a sample of 57 New Zealand Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) between 1986 and 2013. Our models include a large set of controls, including past growth. An innovation of our approach is that we include official population projections as a...

Summary haiku Ruminating on Methane. Land use will change and Someone’s gotta pay. Abstract I use simulations from the Land Use in Rural New Zealand model to consider mitigation for different classes of sheep-beef farms under climate policy. Farmers in the model can respond to carbon prices by abandoning or afforesting marginal land. In assessing...

The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes caused major upheaval to the people of the region. The second major quake killed 185 people, forced many from their homes, and closed Christchurch’s central business district. This paper examines the consequential effect on jobs and accumulated earnings for workers in Canterbury.

The construction industry contributes a large and growing share of the New Zealand economy, with total employment rising to almost 10% and value added (GDP contribution) rising to about 9% by 2012. While aggregate statistics have raised some concerns about poor construction productivity, the New Zealand construction industry is not an underperformer when looked at...

This resource discusses the history of the New Zealand government policy-making process in relation to the Emissions Trading Scheme. Emissions trading can be a powerful tool for helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An ETS transforms a regulatory limit on emissions into an emissions price set by the marketplace, enabling economic incentives for producers, consumers...