Individual and group outcomes

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…

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…

Government income support policies face a balance between providing adequate income, maintaining work incentives, and managing fiscal costs to the government. Recent changes to abatement thresholds in Aotearoa New Zealand aim to improve support and…

Home equity release refers to financial products that allow people to access the equity that is tied up in their own homes. Home equity is a large part of household wealth in New Zealand, making…

Drawing upon longitudinal data from the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) study, this research looks at the barriers to mothers leaving partners who use violence. The persistence of conflict or abuse experienced by mothers…

Income’s role explored,
Kiwi kid’s behaviour studied
Stress, screens may hold keys

This paper explores how a family’s income affects the behavioural development of children.

In this paper, we estimate the impact of the Winter Energy Payment on a range of outcomes. We found the Winter Energy Payment had a weakly positive effect for recipients.

To better understand the potential effects of transport policies, it is important to understand household spending patterns across different transport-related categories, as well as across different households.

Access to suitable and affordable childcare is a prerequisite for labour force participation for many mothers.

Past research finds evidence that workers’ labour market outcomes are enhanced if they live in areas with greater job opportunities and employment density.

This research delves into expenditure patterns of retiree households in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Despite union rules,    
doctors’ gender pay gap still    
stark. No clear reason.   

 

We use individual-level data from the 2013 New Zealand Census combined with administrative income data from the tax system to estimate the gender…

The jobs that we do    
are not those of yesterday.    
Each spring, new plants grow.    

We measure the rate of occupational change in New Zealand between 1976 and 2018. We use measures of occupational drift…

Do wages increase
when firm performance improves?
Yes, but not as much.

 

Aotearoa New Zealand, like many other developed countries, has had a decline in the share of total national income that goes to workers. Workers' wage growth during…

Our research shows there is little evidence the 2018 increases in the New Zealand Government's accommodation support led to stronger increases in rental costs.

Does commuting increase workers’ exposure to difference and diversity? The uneven spatial distribution of different population subgroups within cities is well documented. Individual neighbourhoods are generally less diverse than cities as a whole. Auckland is New…

Different pay rates
For gender and ethnic groups
Add up to a lot!

This research shows parents are largely not to blame for economic inequality between men and women in Aotearoa New Zealand. Other factors in society, outside parents’ control, are contributing more to ongoing harmful economic gender…

This paper looks at if parents responded to changed work incentives resulting from increasing the abatement threshold for Working for Families as part of the Families Package.

 

We found no evidence parents responded to this particular…

This literature review provides background for a forthcoming empirical investigation of the pathways through education that lead to successful labour market outcomes for Māori students with different aptitudes in high school.

 

It summarises three main areas…

See a summary version of this paper by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

 

Do people from different demographics in Aotearoa New Zealand get equal slices of the pie when their workplace passes profits onto workers as…

This research finds that both structural reforms of the government (which led to large negative impacts on some areas in Aotearoa New Zealand) and immigration reforms (which led to large increases in skilled migration in…

Our research investigates how mothers’ preferences and intentions for parental leave compare with the leave they end up taking.

Workers who lose their jobs involuntarily have lower mental health and economic security in the short term — and lower earnings and physical health in the long term.

Work injuries fall more often on Mondays. Blame physiology.

Research consistently finds more workplace injuries occur on Mondays than on other weekdays. One hypothesis is that workers fraudulently claim that off-the-job weekend sprains and strains occurred…

You travel to work    
and meet people unlike you.    
Pākehā gain most.    

Does commuting increase workers' exposure to difference and diversity? The uneven spatial distribution of different population subgroups within cities is well…

Is gig work growing?    
What do we know about it?    
More data will help.    

The increase in internet-based services has raised policy interest in gig work, which is work done outside formal employer-employee…

In diverse cities    
wages and rents are higher.    
Firms gain, folks less so.

This paper revisits whether cultural diversity is a source of local production and/or consumption amenities. We adapt the analytical framework of Roback…

Pacific migrants:    
high employment, low pay rates,    
trapped by poor English.    

New Zealand has a long history of migration from the Pacific. Migrants from the Pacific, like all people moving to a new…

Falling in love with    
one as educated boosts    
inequality.    

Educational assortative matching among couples, i.e. the phenomenon whereby the high-educated have partners who are also high-educated, has gained attention in popular media and academic research…

Centre of Auckland    
had higher housing support    
some gains for tenants.    

A major concern with demand side housing subsidies to low-income tenants is the extent to which they may be captured by landlords in the…

Being a mother    
means decreased hours and wages.    
No such change for dads.   

This paper is an initial exploration of what we can learn regarding the drivers of the gender pay gap in New…

Postgrad allowance     
removed. Students borrow more.     
Not much else changes.     

From 1 January 2013, students in New Zealand who entered postgraduate qualifications other than Honours were no longer eligible to receive student…

This is the first in a series of five reports that together use Growing Up in New Zealand data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the long run labour market outcomes…

This is the final report in a series of five reports that together use the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal survey data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the…

This is the second in a series of five reports that together use the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal survey data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the long run…

This is the third in a series of five reports that together use the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal survey data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the long run…

This is the fourth in a series of five reports that together use the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) longitudinal survey data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the long…

Women are paid less,
but aren’t less valuable.
We blame sexism.

As in other OECD countries, women in New Zealand earn substantially less than men with similar observable characteristics. In this paper, we use a decade…

This note describes the rates which various subpopulations of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population hold licences for motor cars and light motor vehicles.

This research note analyses the career paths and labour market outcomes of the early childhood education (ECE) workforce.

This paper compares two approaches to analyzing longitudinal discrete-time binary outcomes. Dynamic binary response models focus on state occupancy and typically specify low-order Markovian state dependence. Multi-spell duration models focus on transitions between states and…

This article analyzes earnings dynamics and measurement error using a matched longitudinal sample of individuals’ survey and administrative earnings. In line with previous literature, the reported differences are characterized by both persistent and transitory factors.…

Filling info gaps    
on early childhood sector.    
Insights with limits.    

This research note summarises results of exploratory research into the ability of Statistics New Zealand’s IDI to support analysis of the early childhood education (ECE)…

Although women make up nearly half the U.S. workforce, most studies of earnings inequality focus on men. This is at least in part because of the complexity of modeling both the decision to work (i.e.,…

As in other OECD countries, women in New Zealand earn substantially less than men with similar observable characteristics. In this paper, we use a decade of annual wage and productivity data from New Zealand's Linked…

There are two common approaches to analyzing discrete-time two-state panel data: one focuses on modeling the determinants of state occupancy, the other on modeling the determinants of transition between states. This note shows that there…

Job loss hurts workers    
low employment and earnings    
even with support.    

This paper analyses the longer term impacts of involuntary job loss of workers subsequent employment, earnings, and income support in New…

Inequality    
is reduced by aging of    
our population.    

As is the case in most developed countries, the population of New Zealand is ageing numerically and structurally. Population ageing can have important effects…

Surveys have errors.    
Tax data errors are rare,    
but they still matter.    

This paper analyses measurement error in the classification of employment. We show that the true employment rate and time-invariant error rates…

This paper analyses measurement error in the classification of employment using matched survey and administrative data from New Zealand. We show that the true employment rate and time-invariant error rates can be identified, given access…

This paper analyses the measurement error and earnings dynamics of two sources of individuals' annual earnings from Statistics New Zealand's Survey of Family, Income and Employment (SoFIE) and administrative linked employer-employee data (LEED) earnings reported…

Quake! drop, cover, hold
    Then employees recover
        and subsidy helps.

The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes caused major upheaval to the people of the region. The second major quake killed 185 people, forced many from…

Ninety day trial.    
Controversial policy,    
with little impact.   

An amendment to legislation in 2009 enabled New Zealand firms with fewer than 20 employees to hire new workers on trial periods. The scheme was…

Between 1984 and 1993, New Zealand undertook comprehensive market-oriented economic reforms. In this paper, we use census data to examine how the internal mobility of Māori compares to that of Europeans in New Zealand in…

This paper examines dynamic binary response and multi-spell duration model approaches to analyzing longitudinal discrete-time binary outcomes. Prototypical dynamic binary response models specify low-order Markovian state dependence and restrict the effects of observed and unobserved…

The New Zealand government introduced a Primary Health Care Strategy (PHCS) in 2001 aimed at improving access to primary health care, improving health, and reducing inequalities in health. The Strategy represented a substantive increase in…

What characteristics push people to move and what pulls them to a new location? Evidence from the US has suggested that people are pulled to cities with a high population density and with large concentrations…

This documentation was undertaken as part of Motu’s Foundation for Research, Science and Technology-funded “Adjustment and Inequality” research programme. The document presents New Zealand population census unit record data between 1986 and 2001. It includes…

Access to this data is unrestricted and it may be used freely by any user, provided that the source of the data and Motu Working Paper 13-07 are cited.

This dataset was updated in 2014. For…

This dataset contains data on the population work and labour force status for the census year 1981. It classes individuals as either: full-time, part-time, unemployed, or unidentified status. Only a select few area units (Patea,…

This data documents the status of unoccupied dwellings in 2006. Only a select few area units (Patea, Moerewa, Wairoa, Waipukurau, Takapau, Mataura, Horotiu, Makarewa, Whakatu, Fairton, Paeora, Clive) and territorial local authorities (Hastings District, South…

This paper estimates the impact of different categories of employment policy interventions on subsequent outcomes for jobseekers. We generate a range of estimates to help us distinguish programme effects from selection effects. We also examine…

Between 1984 and 2003, New Zealand undertook comprehensive market-oriented economic reforms. In this paper, we use Census data to examine how the internal mobility of Māori compares to that of Europeans in New Zealand in…

This paper examines the degree of geographic concentration of employment in New Zealand, using summary measures proposed by Ellison and Glaeser (1997) and Maurel and Sedillot (1999).

We use Statistics New Zealand Business Demography data for…

This is a chapter of a physical book that is not available online.

While the employment rate of women has risen steadily in New Zealand over the last two decades, employment is still highly variable by ethnicity and age. One of the groups least engaged in paid employment…

We use the first three waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to examine the retirement plans of middle-aged workers (aged 45–55).

Our results indicate that approximately two-thirds of men and…

In this article, we link unique data on local social infrastructure expenditure with micro-level individual survey data of self-reported social capital measures of trust and participation in community activities.

We use both probit and tobit models…

Using data from the "Pacific Islands Families: the first two years of life" (PIF) study, this paper explores the factors associated with the living arrangements of mothers with a one-year-old Pacific child. Three living arrangements…

This paper analyses local labour and housing market adjustment in New Zealand from 1989 to 2006.

We use a panel vector autoregression approach to examine the adjustment of employment, employment rate, participation rate, wages, and house…

This is a chapter in a physical book and not available electronically.

Among developed economies, New Zealand is one of the countries that experienced a large increase in personal income inequality since the mid 1980s.

This paper focuses on income inequality at the regional level. Smith (2000) and…

Educational attainment increased markedly in New Zealand between 1986 and 2001, while the income premia for higher qualifications first increased and then stabilised or decreased over the 1990s.

We first document the growth in qualification-based skills…

This paper analyses income distribution changes in New Zealand between 1983 and 1998. We use a semi-parametric kernel density approach and a range of inequality summary measures to assess the distributional effects of changes in…

Objective: To identify the characteristics of New Zealanders who utilised primary healthcare services prior to the implementation of the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Strategy (PHCS).

Methods: This paper uses data from the 1996/97 and 2002/03 waves…

We know quite a lot about cross-sectional child poverty rates. But we want to move closer to answering the dynamic question of why children move into and out of poverty.

Using a longitudinal data set developed…

This report was produced as a New Zealand Department of Labour Research Paper.

Limited information is currently available on youth activity in New Zealand.

This paper uses data primarily from the Household Economic Survey (HES) to provide a…

This was produced on behalf of Health Services Research Centre as HSRC Discussion Paper No. 7.

New Zealand governments in recent years have required government agencies to promote ‘better and fairer access to services’, including geographic accessibility (Upton 1991; Creech 1999).…

Produced as IZA Discussion Paper 1365.

A number of authors have documented an increase in earnings or income inequality in New Zealand during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period of major economic reform, however…

This paper was produced as New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 01/09.

This paper presents an analysis of the distribution of socio-economic deprivation throughout New Zealand. The analysis focuses on the three census years 1986, 1991, and…

Produced as a Families Commission Research Fund report for the Families Commissions, Wellington.

This study examines whether differences in parental education are reflected in differences in children's scores on cognitive tests, drawing attention to the role…

Presented as New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 05/08

In this study we investigate Auckland's economic performance relative to other large cities in New Zealand, to medium-sized urban centres and to small towns and rural areas.

Measures of regional economic…

This started as a LEED Research Report being produced on behalf of  Statistics New Zealand

This paper uses an experimental dataset under development at Statistics New Zealand, the Linked Employer-Employee Database (LEED), to examine labour market outcomes for…

This was produced as New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 03/35

This paper summarises the changing nature of qualifications across the working age population in New Zealand over the period from 1986 to 2001, and investigates the relationships between…

This paper was produced as New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 01/21

This paper presents an analysis of changes in the distribution of gross household income and income inequality over the period 1983 - 1998.

The analysis applies a semiparametric…

Produced as the LEED Research Report for Statistics New Zealand in Wellington

New Zealand has a comprehensive accident insurance system that pays much of the direct cost of accidental injuries, and compensates workers 80 percent of their earnings…

"Economics as a 'trade' does very well in New Zealand. Economists are taken relatively seriously in government policy processes. For better or worse, economic ideas were major drivers of the reforms in the late 1980s…

In this study we extend the literature (e.g. Deaton, 2002a; Kennedy and Kawachi, 1996; Wilkinson, 1996) by proposing a new mechanism through which income inequality can influence health.

We argue that increased income inequality induces household…

This draft book chapter provides an overview of Maori economic development during the past 150 years, drawing on readily available statistical and historical sources.

The path of Maori economic development that we have traced through statistical…

This paper provides an overview of the analysis of the indirect effects of active labour market policies. Indirect effects arise where some of the improved labour market outcomes for programme participants come at the expense…

This paper uses census data to identify the main changes in the individual-level income distribution of working-aged Maori between 1991 and 2001, and to analyse the effects of changes in the distribution of socio-demographic attributes…

This paper reports findings from a study of changes in Maori income levels and income dispersion between 1997 and 2003.

Data from Statistics New Zealand's Income Survey are used to describe and evaluate the main changes…

This paper investigates several factors that may be important for improving Maori outcomes, and the extent to which their importance varies by iwi. Specifically, it examines the extent to which controlling for differences in characteristics…

This paper considers the dynamics of child income poverty in New Zealand.

Annual movements into and out of poverty by children's households in New Zealand over the 1997/98, 1998/99, and 1999/2000 periods are analysed. The annual…

Many studies show that individuals from ethnic minority groups receive low levels of job-related training, raising the question of whether lower expected wage benefits contribute to this lack of training.

In this paper, unit record data…

This paper documents a comprehensive database for the populations of 60 New Zealand towns and cities (henceforth "towns"). Populations are provided for every tenth year from 1926 through to 2006. New Zealand towns have experienced…

We examine the relationship between performance pay systems and wages, paying particular attention to gender differences in outcomes.

At the firm level, estimates suggest average wages are unaffected by changes in performance pay practices, but that…

This paper analyses how much different cohorts can expect to contribute into the PAYGO-funded New Zealand Superannuation scheme, and contrasts it with the amount each cohort can be expected to obtain in benefits if the…

We investigate the effects of home-ownership on parents' involvement in local school elections.

We use 2007 New Zealand school board of trustees data to examine whether schools where parents have high rates of home-ownership experience high…

This paper examines how increasing longevity affects the housing choices of working age and retired people using a heterogeneous agent overlapping generations model that incorporates owner-occupier and rental sectors, credit constraints, detailed tax regulations, and…

Until the 1960s, migration flows between Australia and New Zealand were quite balanced. In 1966 there were around 52,000 New Zealand born living in Australia and 43,000 Australia born living in New Zealand. Since then,…

This lecture will discuss the effect of teachers' monetary incentives in an experiment among English and mathematics teachers in high schools in Israel.

The program has much in common with performance-pay initiatives being tested in the…

This presentation discusses the situation of the National Health Service in England when Tony Blair was elected Prime Minister in 1997, outlines the main phases and elements in New Labour's NHS reforms and assesses their…

While uncertainty abounds in almost any decision on investment in schooling, it is mostly ignored in research and virtually absent in labour economics text books.

This paper:

documents the scope for risk,
discusses the tough disentanglement of heterogeneity…

Social progress can be exactly measured by the social position of the fair sex (its plain ones included).
Karl Marx, 12 December 1868

This presentation examines:

Background: What’s interesting about Russia?
What’s happened to the pay gap in transition?
The rank…

This presentation explores factors associated with receiving and moving off social welfare benefits in Britain. There is much interest in the dynamics of receiving welfare and in comparing these dynamics across countries.

The research presented here…

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…

This dataset contains data on population counts broken down by 5-year age-bands, at area unit level and territorial authority level for the year 1981. Only a select few area units (Patea, Moerewa, Wairoa, Waipukurau, Takapau,…

This paper examines the incidence of involuntary job loss and its impact on the employment and earnings of affected workers, using data from the Survey of Families, Incomes and Employment (SoFIE) for the 2002–09 period.…