New Zealand Economy Research Articles

Expediency assessment of the experience used in the New Zealand creative economy strategic development

The creative economy creates significant economic value through the production and replication of commercial goods as well as the creative services export. New industries and commercial structures are formed, tourism is stimulated, favorable investment climate and technology transfer is organized through the creative economy brands creation. The purpose of this article is to identify successful experiences in the creative economy strategic development in New Zealand, as the New Zealand experience has been poorly studied in academic discourse. Although the creative industry in New Zealand is vital economic sector, there are also number of problems that need to be solved to support its further growth and development. Therefore, the creative economy of New Zealand has been defined as the research object, the research subject is the strategic development experience. The methodology of the research is the general theory of strategy and the methodology of strategizing, developed by Professor V.L. Kvint. The methods of research were analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, strategic benchmarking as well as OTSW-analysis. New Zealand has implemented a number of strategies and initiatives aimed at supporting the creative industry and promoting innovation in the country. The strategic initiatives implemented to support the industry have helped unlock its economic growth potential. The successful development of the film industry allowed the serious national brands creation. The article conducted a strategic analysis of New Zealand’s creative economy and identified strategic opportunities – these include the development of industries that were not supported at the state level. The author also analyzed the best practices of workforce strategy in the creative economy of New Zealand. The scientific and practical significance of obtained lies in the possible implementation to adjust the national state policy in the field of heritage and culture support, as well as the technological entrepreneurship innovative ecosystem formation. The experience gained as a result of the study of the New Zealand creative economy strategic development can be applied to differentiate promising areas for further creative economy strategic development of the Russian Federation, taking into account the labor resources optimal use.

Service performance reporting and principles-based authoritative guidance: an analysis of New Zealand higher education institutions

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the extent to which performance indicators (PIs) reported by New Zealand (NZ) higher education institutions (HEIs) correspond with accounting standards and guidance and the effects issuance of principles-based authoritative guidance and early adoption of Public Benefit Entity Financial Reporting Standard 48 (PBE FRS 48) have on the PIs disclosed.Design/methodology/approachUsing a content analysis index derived from accounting standards and guidance, we conduct a longitudinal assessment of the 2016 and 2019 statements of service performance published by 22 NZ HEIs.FindingsThe PIs reported extend beyond the service performance elements proposed by standard-setters. Despite few indicators on intermediate and broader outcomes, the measures disclosed by HEIs are reflective of their role in the NZ economy and the national Tertiary Education Strategy. The results show that principles-based authoritative guidance and early adoption of PBE FRS 48 influence the focus and type of measures disclosed, while there is no evidence of improvements in the reporting of impacts, outcomes and information useful for performance evaluation.Practical implicationsThis paper provides timely insights for standard-setters and regulators on the influence principles-based accounting standards and guidance have on non-financial reporting practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the scant literature on HEIs’ service performance reporting. It presents a model for conceptualising HEIs’ PIs that can be used as a basis for future research on non-financial reporting. It also reflects on the tension between accountability and “accountingisation”, suggesting that, although the PIs reported support formal accountability, they do not communicate whether HEIs’ activities and outputs meet their social purpose.

A forecasting tool for predicting asthma related emergency department visits and hospitalizations using heterogeneous data sources

New Zealand (NZ) is one of the countries with the highest prevalence and mortality rate due to asthma. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics [3] indicate NZ has one of the highest hospital admission rates for asthma of OECD countries. According to recent records [1], on average 77 New Zealanders each year lost their battle to asthma. Furthermore, the cost burden of asthma to the NZ economy has not improved over the years [2]. Not much work has been accomplished in the direction of population health forecasting for asthma in NZ. The aim of this study is to develop a prediction model for anticipating asthma-related hospitalisations in Auckland, NZ while exploiting diverse heterogeneous data sources. These sources accounts for triggers that exacerbate asthma conditions like meteorological and air quality factors plus the social media resource accessed through Google search trends. The research work is divided into two parts; in the first phase I analysed the relationship between trigger parameters and asthma using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Subsequently, in part two a comparative examination has been conducted based upon the prediction models developed using different machine learning techniques on the continuous data of 1097 days. The experimental evaluation shows that the best forecasting tool could predict asthma-related hospitalisation with an accuracy of 78.87% while the precision and recall for the model were 79.80% and 78.87%. The outcome achieved from implementing such a model would be beneficial for public health surveillance, thereby helping in more efficient and timely healthcare resource deployment.

Internal audit use, earnings quality and external audit fees

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of internal audit function (IAF) use on earnings quality and external audit fees using empirical data collected from the New Zealand (NZ) setting.Design/methodology/approachApplying institutional theory as the underlying framework, this study examines an IAF’s ability to demonstrate legitimacy, which will shed light to the functions long-term survival. Using a unique data set from the NZ setting, which combines information obtained from “The Institute of Internal Auditors of New Zealand” with empirical firm data collected from publicly available sources, multivariate analysis is performed to test the prediction that IAF use is associated with earnings quality, measured using discretionary accruals, and external audit fees.FindingsThere is strong positive association between IAF use and external audit fees, which supports the complementary controls view, where better internal controls increase audit fees by increasing the demand for scope of external audit work. The authors find no significant relationship between IAF use and earnings quality, which is not entirely surprising.Research limitations/implicationsThe aim is to empirically test the IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. Given the size of the NZ economy and limitations of data availability, total sample size used in this study is relatively modest. However, the analysis does yield significant results. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. Senior management (SM) will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.Originality/valueThe aim is to empirically test IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first NZ-based academic investigation which examines the relationship between IAF use and earnings quality. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. SM will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.

Modeling the Direction and Volume of Trade Flows in Global Crisis, COVID-19

The massive spread of COVID-19 has disrupted trading activities worldwide plunging the economy of a nation; particularly, trade-dependent nations are severely affected by the restriction in exports and imports. This paper aims to evaluate the implications of COVID-19 on the trade economy of New Zealand by exploratory data analysis and ARIMA modeling. Based on a comprehensive strategy of analysis and prediction, data were processed to notice the impact of the pandemic on trade sales. ARIMA (Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average) model was implemented to assess and determine the total imports and exports value of New Zealand. The efficacy of the results was tested by employing standard error analytical techniques. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the trade economy of New Zealand shows plunge with the rise of pandemic and is likely to decline in future. On the basis, it is recommended that allowing trade for essential goods as a key factor in balancing the economy of trade in New Zealand. Future scope of the research is focused to identify other factors that could stimulate the economy of New Zealand during the pandemic.

Use of the Elimination Strategy in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Health and Economic Impacts for New Zealand Relative to Other OECD Countries

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries in the Asia-Pacific Region used very intensive control measures, and one of these, New Zealand (NZ), adopted a clear “elimination strategy”. We therefore aimed to compare key health and economic outcomes of NZ relative to OECD countries as of mid-June 2021. Methods: This analysis compared health outcomes (cumulative death rates from COVID-19 and “excess death” rates) and economic measures (quarterly GDP and unemployment levels) across OECD countries. Findings: NZ had the lowest cumulative COVID-19 death rate in the OECD at 242 times lower than the 38-OECD-country average: 5·2 vs 1256 per million population. When considering “excess deaths”, NZ had the largest negative value in the OECD, equivalent to around 2000 fewer deaths than expected. When considering the average GDP change over the five quarters of 2020 to 2021-Q1, NZ was the sixth best performer (at 0·5% vs -0·3% for the OECD average). The increase in unemployment in NZ was also less than the OECD average (1·1 percentage points to a peak of 5·2%, vs 3·3 points to 8·6%, respectively). Interpretation: NZ’s elimination strategy response to COVID-19 produced the best mortality protection outcomes in the OECD. In economic terms it also performed better than the OECD average in terms of adverse impacts on GDP and employment. Nevertheless, a fuller accounting of the benefits and costs needs to be done once the population is vaccinated and longer-term health and economic outcomes are considered. Funding Information: Health Research Council of NZ (for two authors). Declaration of Interests: MB acknowledges funding support from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (20/1066). Nil for others.

Industry structure, R&D intensity, and performance in New Zealand

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the Porter hypothesis using the Structure–Conduct–Performance (SCP) framework for a panel data set of industries in New Zealand.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed a mutually exclusive classification of the process-led and product-led innovation strategies and examined their impact on SCP in the high (low) carbon emission industries.FindingsThe findings show that the high-level concentration provides more beneficial opportunities for product and geographical diversification that require a high level of R&D intensity. The authors find that in high-carbon emission industries, the product-led innovation strategies have a significant positive impact on the industry structure and performance which provide support for the Porter hypothesis.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that competition effects firm-level investments, in particular, capital expenditure to address carbon emissions, as such investments give firms a head start over rivals, and increase their profit margin compared to other firms over time. Overall, the empirical results lend support to the Porter hypothesis and suggest that understanding of industries’ unique R&D attributes is critical to developing regulations to support industries in smaller economies.Originality/valueIt is the first study that examines the industry structure, R&D intensity and performance in a small developed economy of New Zealand.

Valuing the digital economy of New Zealand

The present paper provides estimates of the value of the digital economy of New Zealand through the use of the supply-use tables. By design, no changes are made to the production boundary as the products being assessed are already included within the production boundary and gross domestic product (GDP). The approach is a practical attempt at using the framework first presented in the paper entitled “Measuring digital trade: towards a conceptual framework”, and in particular, the “nature” component of the framework. This is extended to the whole economy to identify “digital” transactions in the country’s National Accounts Commodity Classification. The main finding from this paper is that the “digitally ordered” and “digitally delivered” aspects of the framework were able to be broadly applied. However, the significant material assumptions and the broad nature of the product classification at the aggregate level meant that our estimates were not of high quality. For the year ending March 2015, the estimate of the value of gross output of New Zealand that can be delivered digitally was 27.9 billion New Zealand dollars (NZ$) (US$18.8 billion), while for digitally ordered gross output, it was NZ$109.2 billion

Income inequality in New Zealand: Why conventional estimates are misleading

Considerable attention is currently being paid to establishing the extent of inequality in New Zealand and whether it has risen in recent years. This paper offers some insights into the inequality measures and interpretations that commonly feature in those debates. These typically relate to cross-sectional inequality, such as annual Gini coefficients for various income definitions, or comparisons of income growth rates across income deciles. But failure to take into account the longitudinal dimension of inequality can lead to misinterpretations of inequality data and measures. The paper shows that examining longitudinal income data for the same individuals over time strongly contradicts cross-sectional inequality evidence. For example, some recent cross-sectional inequality measures suggest that the incomes of initially low-income households grew at slower rates than those with initially higher-incomes. This has been interpreted as the poorest earners being ‘left behind’. But recent longitudinal data, at least for individuals, reveals evidence of much faster-than-average growth among initially lower, compared to higher, income earners. Thus, ‘regression to the mean’ is a dominant feature of the longitudinal data.

Продуктивность технологических укладов в экономике Новой Зеландии

In the present work new results were obtained characterizing the economic evaluation of efficiency of technological structures in New Zealand economy. This study is based on the analysis of Kondratiev long waves. With the help of Kondratiev wave was carried out an analysis of the dates of transition from one to another structure in New Zealand economy. The dating allowed us to determine the limits of the existence of one way of life as precisely as possible and the beginning of the birth of another. Thus, the productivity of relic structures in the economy of New Zealand, the fifth and sixth modes, was established. The productivity of the fourth order by using this model had a sufficiently high level of error, which did not allow to determine its productivity with the greatest accuracy. The productivity of relict structures in the New Zealand economy is 2,655.12 Geri-Hemis 2005 dollars. The maximum productivity of the fifth technological order in the New Zealand economy is 16,976.42 thousand Geri-Hemis dollars 2005. The maximum productivity of the sixth technological order in the economy of New Zealand is 27,915.42 thousand Geri-Hemis dollars 2005 The efficiency of the third technological mode when using this model with the highest level of confidence could not be determined.

Income Inequality in New Zealand, 1935–2014

AbstractTrends in income inequality are increasingly being discussed by economists and policy makers. In New Zealand, income inequality indices increased during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with limited change thereafter. But little is known about the levels and changes of such indices over prior decades. Based on previously unexplored data from Statistics New Zealand Official Yearbooks and Inland Revenue, this article reports estimates for the Gini index of income inequality for New Zealand from the mid‐1930s to the present. Comparisons with estimates for Australia for 1942–2001 reveal some remarkable commonalities.

International Migration and the Distribution of Income in New Zealand Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Areas

Since the 1980s, income inequality in New Zealand has been a growing concern - particularly in metropolitan areas. At the same time, the encouragement of permanent and temporary immigration has led to the foreign-born accounting for a growing share of the population; this is disproportionally so in metropolitan areas. This paper investigates the impact of immigration, by skill level and length of stay, on the distribution of income in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. We apply decomposition methodologies to data obtained from the 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2013 Censuses of Population and Dwellings. We find that increases in the immigrant share of population in an area have an inequality-increasing and area-specific effect. Changes in immigrant-group-specific distributions of income are inequality reducing in non-metropolitan areas but inequality increasing in metropolitan areas. Inequality increased in metropolitan areas because the overall inequality-increasing effect of immigration is larger than the inequality-reducing changes for the New Zealand-born. The opposite is the case in non-metropolitan areas: the overall inequality-reducing change in the income distribution of the New Zealand born there is larger than the inequality-increasing effect of immigration. The methodologies adopted here can also benefit the study of income distribution changes in countries with similar immigration policies, such as Australia and Canada.

The economic impact of on-screen tourism: The case of The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit

The economic impacts of on-screen tourism are particularly interesting, and research in this area can provide useful information to governments making decisions regarding subsidising film production and forming relevant marketing strategies. No reliable and systematic approach for measuring the economic impacts of on-screen tourism currently exists, and this study is the first to evaluate the overall economic impacts of on-screen tourism by comparing the impacts of two series of films, The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, both filmed in New Zealand. A new approach combining econometric and computable general equilibrium modelling techniques is used in the assessment. The results show that The Lord of the Rings did not significantly impact on the tourism and economy of New Zealand, while the Hobbit Trilogy had a significant positive impact, which may be due to effective marketing strategies and media convergence.

New Zealand Labor Market Dynamics: Pre- and Post-global Financial Crisis

Since 1984, the New Zealand economy has been through major micro–macro and institutional reforms, including the labor market. As reforms began to take effect and expectations adjusted, unemployment in New Zealand declined steadily and persistently since 1993–1994. Many of the earlier adjustments were structural in nature. Along the way, however, changes in unemployment occurred because of transitory shocks. Major increases in unemployment occurred after the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) with similar dynamics. In this paper, we estimate the speed of adjustment in the New Zealand labor market before and after the GFC.

Usefulness of ASSET4 ESG for Socially Responsible Investing in a Small Economy

This article examines the risk–return trade-offs of socially responsible investing (SRI) by using the ASSET4 ESG rating for the small economy of New Zealand. The author explores the idea of developing a new typology of CSR communication strategies for stock selection and tests its usefulness for an SRI investor in a small economy, where less-well-known stocks are often not included by ASSET4 ESG. He finds that a portfolio comprising stocks that demonstrate their responsive to stakeholder concerns about social and environmental issues in their CSR communication, rather than actively engaging stakeholders to solve the social and environmental problems, outperform an ASSET4 SRI portfolio in the short and long run. The results provide evidence that an SRI portfolio formed using the idea of a readability score of a company’s CSR information offers ex post higher returns to SRI investors in smaller economies.

Wages and inequality

Wages and salaries are a vital part of the picture of income inequality in New Zealand because so many people depend on them as their principal or only source of income, although it is important to remember that the greatest extremes of inequality most frequently come from investment income (for very high incomes) and from social welfare benefits (for poverty). Wages and salaries are market incomes – that is, before taxes, tax credits like Working for Families, and other government assistance. ‘Market’ incomes include income from capital (real estate, investments, financial assets and other unearned income) as well as wages, but here we are looking only at wages and salaries (henceforth ‘wages’).

Price Effects of Monetary Policy: The Case of a Small Open Economy of New Zealand

This paper empirically examines the price effects of monetary policy shocks in New Zealand. Empirical analysis incorporates variables suggested by a hybrid New Open Economy Macroeconomic (NOEM) model, allowing both ‘producer and local currency pricing to market (PCP and LCP-PTM)’ activities of foreign exporters. Empirical findings indicate the absence of any price puzzle and show that New Zealand producer price index (PPI) responds more sluggishly than consumer price index (CPI) due to a restrictive domestic monetary stance; suggesting the differences between the exchange rate pass-through of monetary policy shocks to CPI and PPI resulting from exporters’ different pricing strategies.

Drug development and research in New Zealand: policies affecting the industry

AbstractMany countries employ a range of policies to support their drug development industry. The support is primarily because of the perceived potential benefits from wealth creation, employment, and international trade related to a high‐technology industry. New Zealand (NZ) has a growing drug development industry; this article reports on the results of interviews with people representing the industry. The NZ industry reported that government policies that included funding of scientific, medical, and drug development research, a robust regulatory system, and strong patent laws have created a cluster of expertise for specialized drug development services. This is similar to those that have been reported to encourage the biotechnology industries of many countries. Threats to the industry in NZ include insufficient funding, small industry size, insufficient supportive policies, and stakeholders' lack of understanding of the industry. These barriers differ from those of developing countries such as China and India, probably because NZ's industry is built on its scientific and medical research rather than its manufacturing capability. The specific policies requested to further support the NZ industry include increased government investment, improved management of funding, and support for research, education, and career development. Drug Dev Res 73: 1–10, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

‘It's not really us discriminating against immigrants, it's more telling people how to fit in’: Constructing the nation in immigration talk in New Zealand

AbstractPrevious research has demonstrated that talk about immigration can function to produce, reproduce and stabilize racism (Capdevila & Callaghan, 2008). In New Zealand (NZ), changes in immigration policy have seen a rapid increase in diverse groups of migrants with varied cultural backgrounds entering the country in the past two decades. Given its unique colonial history and ‘settler nationality in a bicultural nation’ (Bell, 2009), we explored how young NZ adults talk about and produce meanings and understandings of immigration, immigrants and cultural diversity. Appealing to notions of NZ as ‘one society’, as English speaking, and as English looking participants constructed NZ, NZ national identity and the NZ economy in particular ways. This constituted a nationalist rhetoric that was taken up in common‐sense ways by participants to legitimize racist talk whilst simultaneously acting to locate participants themselves as reasonable and moral individuals. It is concluded that nationalist discourses function to reinforce patterns of social dominance and perpetuate the notion of New Zealanders as largely white, European‐looking and English‐speaking. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economic impact of the integration of alternative vehicle technologies into the New Zealand vehicle fleet

A multi-regional integrated energy systems model is developed to assess the economic impact of hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen internal combustion, and battery electric technologies on the economy of New Zealand. Base case results suggest that a hydrogen fuel dominant vehicle fleet offers economic savings over a conventional fleet but requires the largest sequestration capacity as 75% of hydrogen fuel production is derived from fossil fuel. When the oil price is varied from US$120 to US$240 per barrel in 2030, and the carbon tax varied from US$30 to US$90 per tonne of CO2 equivalent, the change in savings ranges from −65% to +25%.