We examine arguments for a new Longitudinal Household Survey (LHS) in New Zealand, and design and governance arrangements that would best realise the value of a new LHS. Other instruments such as cohort studies, cross-sectional surveys, the census and longitudinally linked administrative data...

This paper uses the New Zealand Linked Income Supplement (LIS) to investigate the annual transitions in hourly earnings of working age individuals over the years 1997 to 2004. I first construct transition matrices for annual changes in weekly and hourly earnings, to enable comparison with...

The NZ Treasury is currently engaged in a project to identify cost-effective interventions to improve outcomes for children and young adults in order to maximise the value of government expenditures across the social sector. The central aim of this paper is to provide an empirically-robust...

There is a rapidly developing empirical literature on the effects of agglomeration on economic activity. This paper surveys recent studies that provide econometric estimates of effects. Doubling economic density increases labour productivity by three or more per cent. Beneath this general...

We analyse the determinants of national R&D expenditure and patenting activity. In contrast to most related studies, we account for factors that impact on small, distant countries. These factors include country size, firm size, distance from major economic centres, and industrial structure. We...

This paper uses the New Zealand Linked Income Supplement (LIS) to investigate the annual transitions in hourly earnings of working age individuals over the years 1997 to 2004. I first construct transition matrices for annual changes in weekly and hourly earnings, to enable comparison with...

How well have New Zealand households fared over a decade of extensive economic and social changes? This study compares household incomes in 1997/98 with household incomes in 1987/88, using the concept of "final income". Final income is a measure of the income accruing to households after...

We analyse patterns of national R&D and patenting activity across developed countries, accounting for factors that may impact on small, distant countries. Once we control for the effects of economic size, distance, sectoral composition and firm size, New Zealand is not an outlier in its per...