This paper summarises recent theoretical and empirical developments in the vast literature that has examined the microeconomic determinants of household saving. It is designed as a primer to provide a basic understanding of some of the developments in the literature in the last decade. The paper...

This paper uses disaggregated price data to analyse the extent and the speed of retail price convergence between New Zealand and Australia since 1984. The paper addresses several issues concerning the integration of markets in the two countries. It compares the behaviour of the prices of a set...

Recent research shows that trade of goods and financial products is much greater within countries than it is between countries, even allowing for factors such as transports costs. This lack of economic integration is likely to be costly for small nations, as internal trade is much less diverse...

The housing market is both large and complex. This paper develops a simple model that captures the essential features of the supply and demand for housing, and which is used to evaluate the impact of a range of policy interventions. Increases in the stock of housing would reduce rents and house...

Sustainable development is a multifaceted concept that has drawn on a number of disciplines including economics, ecology, ethics, sociology and political science. Sustainable development links the welfare of generations with the capacity of the biosphere to sustain life and has a policy focus....

Concern has been raised by an apparent lack of saving in New Zealand. It is often argued that policies which foster savings are important, as higher savings will contribute to higher economic growth. This paper investigates the link between saving, investment and growth. In particular, it...

Expected geometric return is routinely reported as a summary measure of the prospective performance of asset classes and investment portfolios. It has intuitive appeal because its historical counterpart, the geometric average, provides a useful annualised measure of the proportional change in...

Effective tax rates (rather than statutory tax rates) on capital assets can give us an idea of the level of distortion imposed on investment by the tax system. This paper describes a study of effective tax rates on different types of capital assets in New Zealand using the King-Fullerton...

There has recently been a rapid growth in international literature and research on the links between economic growth and social capability and their impact upon well-being. This paper draws on that literature to build upon previous Treasury work at the intersection of economic and social policy....

This study uses data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study to investigate differences by ethnicity in early labour market experiences of a birth cohort born in Christchurch in 1977. The study finds that Maori youth acquire fewer school and post-school qualifications, and accumulate...