Motu Economic and Public Policy Research

advanced search

You are here > Home / Building Capacity

Auckland Public Policy Seminars

The Auckland Public Policy Seminar Series is a monthly forum featuring renowned national and international speakers.

The free seminars are organised by Motu in cooperation with the University of Auckland Masters of Public Policy programme. Each organisation provides speakers for the series on a rotating basis, and seminars are held at lunchtime in central Auckland.

The seminars are intended to be accessible to people from the private sector, research community and government agencies who want to be informed about public policy issues of key importance to the Auckland region and its residents. Infrastructure, water quality, climate change, and property and housing will all feature as part of the 2009 series.

The Auckland Public Policy Seminar Series is sponsored by the Government Urban and Economic Development Office (GUEDO), Auckland Regional Council, and The Tindall Foundation.

 

Upcoming seminar: Len Cook “Social Sciences, Public Policy, and Difficult Decisions”

Date: Monday 13 September 2010
Time: 12.30 - 2.00pm
Venue: Council chamber, Auckland town hall (entrance under clock tower).

You can download a printable flyer here (PDF 317KB).

Abstract
The presentation highlights population changes that bring the most difficulty in making effective long term decisions.  In examining past and future demographic trends, the presentation considers the opportunity cost of a delayed response to major structural shifts in the population that could be critical to future wealth creation in New Zealand.  The talk draws on two papers completed while chair of SPEaR, and looks at how the social sciences can influence timely decision-making, by the capacity for effective anticipation of population shifts.

Download the related papers: “Population change and its implications for forecasting policy…” (PDF 501KB),
and “Leading Social Policy Research in the New Zealand Public Sector…” (PDF 208KB).


Biography
Len Cook was the National Statistician of the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2005, and from 1992 to 2000, he was the Government Statistician of New Zealand.  As well as working in Statistics New Zealand in a variety of roles from 1971 to 1999, becoming Deputy Government Statistician in 1986, he was a member of the Royal Commission on Social policy in 1987-88.  Some recent roles include Vice-President, International Statistics Institute (2005-2009), Chair, Medical Training Board (2007-2009), Chair, Social Policy and Evaluation Research Committee (2008-2010), President, Institute of Public Administration NZ (2009-).  Visiting Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL, (2006-2010). Chair, Advisory Board, NZ Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (2009-).

 

Upcoming seminar: Dr Rick Boven  “New Zealand’s Untapped Potential - The Innovation Agenda”

Speaker: Dr. Rick Boven, Director, New Zealand Institute.

This seminar is hosted by the University of Auckland Masters in Public Policy programme and is part of the series, ‘New Zealand: Realising Our Potential’.

Date: Wednesday 15th September 2010
Time: 12:30 - 2:00 PM
Venue: University of Auckland campus: Old Government House, Women’s Federation room. Paid parking is available at the Owen G Glenn Building (12 Grafton Road).

Abstract
Many people in New Zealand share a desire to see the country improve its economic performance and, hence, create more prosperity for all members of our society.  But there is less agreement over how that greater economic performance might be achieved. New Zealanders espouse a range of values that some fear could be lost in a quest to significantly improve our economic performance.  Less attention appears to be given to the risks associated with maintaining the status quo.  In recent years, members of the New Zealand Institute have called for the enhancement of New Zealand’s research and development capabilities.  In that view, the national innovation system could do with some major structural adjustments to make it more effective as a generator of knowledge-based products of high value in the global economy.  At a less visible level - but just as importantly - significant innovations can be made in production processes across the economy.  Such organisational innovation can serve to enhance economic productivity - an area that must be addressed if economic growth is to occur. In this seminar, Dr. Rick Boven will discuss the current research agenda of the New Zealand Institute and answer these questions:

  • With respect to promoting export-focused innovation, what should New Zealand be doing to improve its research and development performance?
  • With respect to promoting more productivity across the economy, what kind of organisational innovations should New Zealand be pursuing?
  • What are the policy implications?

Commentator: Dr Professor Cris Shore, Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland.

Find out more information about this and other seminars in this series here.

 

Previous seminars:

Brash, Don. 2025 Taskforce (PDF 327KB), Master of Public Policy Seminar Series, hosted by the University of Auckland Masters in Public Policy programme, August.

Goodall, Kaaren. New Zealand’s economic powerhouse (PDF 80KB), Master of Public Policy Seminar Series, hosted by the University of Auckland Masters in Public Policy programme, July.

Hensher, David. Informed Thinking on Frequent, Connected and Visible Metropolitan-Wide Public Transport (PDF 3MB), Auckland Public Policy Seminar, June.

Grimes, Arthur. 2010. Is Auckland a knowledge economy? (PDF 358KB), Auckland Public Policy Seminar Series, May.

Coleman, Andrew. 2010. Why Grandma is my Landlord: Population Ageing, Taxes, and their Implications for the Housing Market (PDF 656 KB), Auckland Public Policy Seminar, May.

McCann, Philip. 2009. Economic geography, globalisation and New Zealand’s productivity paradox (PDF 136KB), Auckland Public Policy Seminar, December. 

Michael Mintrom, John Hattie and Lynda Reid. 2009. “Big Issues in the Future of Schooling in New Zealand,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, October.

Rhema Vaithianathan, Jane Kelsey and Rod Oram. 2009. “The Future of the Global Economy,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, October.

Michael Mintrom, Lester Levy and Ann Poulsen. 2009. “Opportunities Created by the Super City,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, September.

Rhema Vaithianathan, Basil Sharp and Peter Neilson. 2009. “The Future of Energy,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, August.

Jennifer Curtin, Raymond Miller and Michelle Boag. 2009. “The Future of Electoral Politics in New Zealand,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, August.

Robert MacCulloch. 2009. Happiness, contentment and other emotions: implications for economic policy (PDF 575KB), Auckland Public Policy Seminar, July.

David Maré. 2009. “Productivity in Auckland firms: there’s something about the city,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, July.

Maré, David C. and Daniel J. Graham. 2009. “Agglomeration Elasticities in New Zealand,” Motu Working Paper 09-06 (and NZTA Research Report 376).

Maré, David C. 2008. “Labour Productivity in Auckland Firms,” Motu Working Paper 08-12 (and MED Occasional paper 08/09).

Maré, David C. and Jason Timmins. 2006. “Geographic concentration and firm productivity,” Motu Working Paper 06-08.

Maré, David C. 2005. “Concentration, Specialisation and Agglomeration of firms in New Zealand,” Motu Working Paper 05-12.

Peter Neilson. 2009 “The case for performance rating homes,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, May.

Suzi Kerr. 2009. “Environmental Markets: How can they work for water quality and climate change?” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, April.

Arthur Grimes. 2009. “The role of infrastructure in developing New Zealand’s economy,” Auckland Public Policy Seminar, March.