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Motu Research is an independent, world-class economics and public policy institute working for the public good.

We help Aotearoa New Zealand tackle complex social, environmental and economic challenges. 
Courses

Urban Economics short courses: September & October

Motu Research's Senior Fellow Stuart Donovan is running urban economics short courses in Wellington (15-17 September), Auckland (22-24 September) and Christchurch (20-21 October).

Well-being and sustainability measures

Optimal mapping of differing life satisfaction scales

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Amelia Blamey

Working Paper

Of interest to well-being researchers - this paper presents a distributional matching approach to harmonise life satisfaction scores collected on different scales.

 

We apply the method…

Updates

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2025-09-03

Āheitanga Thesis Scholarship open for applications till 3 October

Applications for our Āheitanga Thesis scholarship are open until 3 October 2025.

2025-08-22

Motu Research celebrates Royal Society honours for Dr John McDermott and Dr William Rolleston

Motu Research is proud to celebrate the election of our Executive Director, Dr John McDermott, and Board member, Dr William…

2025-02-28

Congratulations to the winners at the 34th Australia New Zealand Econometric Study Group Meeting

In February, Motu Research hosted the 34th Australia New Zealand Econometric Study Group meeting (ANZESG) in Wellington.

Our Research

Environment

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Urban & regional

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Wellbeing & macro-economics

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Population & labour

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Human rights

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Productivity & innovation

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Recent events

May 28, 2025

Putting children at the centre: Using our knowledge of child development to give kiwi kids the best start to life

This seminar presented findings from Jaimie Monk's latest report, drawing on data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study to examine children’s behavioural development.

April 17, 2025

2026 international climate negotiations & recent developments in EU, USA & China climate change policies (plus an Aotearoa NZ perspective)

In April 2024, we had a public policy seminar on the 2026 international climate negotiations and recent developments in EU, USA and China climate change policies - plus a discussion of climate policies in Aotearoa…

February 17, 2025

The Treasury New Zealand's social discount rate

Information about our recent Motu / Treasury New Zealand Public Policy Seminar on the Treasury's social discount rate on 17 February 2025.

Featured work

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Well-being and sustainability measures

Housing and child development: Trajectories of child wellbeing by tenure type in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Jaimie Monk

Working Paper

This study followed nearly 6,000 children from birth to age 12 and found while children in public housing had more behavioural challenges at age two, those challenges eased more quickly than for their peers in…
Individual and group outcomes

Minimum wages and wage inequality in New Zealand

Authors: Dave Maré | Dean Hyslop | Lily Stelling

Working Paper

How much can raising the minimum wage reduce inequality? In this paper, we explore how sharp increases to New Zealand’s minimum wage—more than 75% in real terms for adults and over 200% for teenagers—have shaped…
Well-being and sustainability measures

Mistrust and Missed Shots: Trust and COVID-19 vaccination decisions

Authors: Ilan Noy | Amelia Blamey

Working Paper

Trust and the COVID-19 vaccine: what we can learn for future pandemics
Why do some people delay or refuse vaccines—even when they save lives? This paper explores how trust, both in other people and in public…
Well-being and sustainability measures

Optimal mapping of differing life satisfaction scales

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Amelia Blamey

Working Paper

Of interest to well-being researchers - this paper presents a distributional matching approach to harmonise life satisfaction scores collected on different scales.
 
We apply the method to two concurrent official New Zealand surveys, one with an…
Individual and group outcomes

Intergenerational earnings persistence in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Dave Maré | Omoniyi Alimi

Working Paper

Adult earnings rates Reflect parental earnings and ethnicity
How much do parents’ earnings shape their children’s future?
Does a child's future income depend on their parents' earnings? Our latest research explores intergenerational earnings persistence (IEP) in Aotearoa…
Well-being and sustainability measures

The impact of participation in arts and cultural activities on personal wellbeing

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Trinh Le | Thomas Benison

Working Paper

Arts and culture help lift the health and wellbeing ​of those who engage. 
 
Using data from the 2016 and 2021 New Zealand General Social Surveys, this study investigates the impact of arts and cultural (AC) participation…
Firm performance and labour dynamics

Pay in Māori-led firms

Authors: Dave Maré | Richard Fabling

Working Paper

This study examines whether working in a Māori-led firm contributes to the earnings of Māori employees. It uses administrative data for 2005-2020 to identify Māori-led firms, based on the ethnicity and descent of working proprietors,…
Firm productivity and performance

Still medalling: Productivity gets a bronze (data source)

Author: Richard Fabling

Working Paper

Productivity data is missing from the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) for over a third of firm-year observations in “measured sector” industries, equating to a fifth of total labour in those industries.
We develop a method to…
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Wellington 6142, New Zealand

Phone: 64 4 939 4250

Email: info@motu.org.nz