The positive relationship between income and subjective wellbeing has been well documented. However, work assessing the relationship of alternative material wellbeing metrics to subjective wellbeing is limited. Consistent with the permanent income hypothesis, we find that a consumption measure out-performs income in predicting subjective wellbeing. When objective measures of consumption are combined with self-assessments of...

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...

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.

Striking differences in economic outcomes exist within New Zealand for Māori relative to the non-Māori population. This paper analyses whether certain beliefs and values differ systematically between Māori and non-Māori, while recognising that there is not a uniform culture for either group. Many of the beliefs and values we examine have been linked to the...

This paper proposes a framework for how houses could be developed, with a focus on how regulatory policies and practices affect decision making. The authors surveyed property developers in Auckland on how planning rules and regulations affect the cost of 'affordable' housing. Almost 90% of the developers surveyed had been affected by delays or uncertainties...