Motu Economic and Public Policy Research

advanced search

You are here > Home / Building Capacity

Wellington Public Policy Seminars

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

We have been holding public policy seminars in Wellington since October 2003. The series aims to disseminate the results of our research and to foster discussion with individuals from other organisations. Our seminars provide a forum for informed debate on important public policy issues. Through our seminars, we aim to make existing knowledge more accessible for policy debates in New Zealand.

Our seminars are attended by people from diverse backgrounds who want to stay informed on economic, social and public policy research. Seminars are held in Wellington and are free to the public. You do not need to register for seminars to attend. You can simply turn up on the day. Click here to sign up to receive seminar notices.

The Wellington Public Policy Seminar Series is sponsored by The Treasury and Statistics New Zealand.

Upcoming seminar: General Equilibrium Analysis of CO2 Mitigation Options

Adolf Stroombergen: Chief Economist and Director, Infometrics

Date: Thursday 23rd September 2010
Time: 12.30 - 2.00pm
Venue: Spectrum Theatre, BP House, 20 Customhouse Quay Wellington.

You can download a printable flyer here (PDF 366KB).

Abstract
Recent years have seen many suggestions for policies that would assist New Zealand to meet some future ‘post-Kyoto’ type of international emissions reduction obligation.  These range from simply having the government purchase from offshore whatever number of emission permits are required to cover the country’s excess emissions, financed by general taxation; to more targeted polices such as subsidised or compulsory use of biofuels, a ban on thermal generation, a multitude of energy conservation and energy efficiency programmes, and average vehicle fleet fuel efficiency standards.  And of course numerous variations on an emissions trading scheme (ETS).  Some of the more tenuous policies have been discarded, but there is still enough interest (and of course vested interest) in many options other than a pure ETS or pure carbon price.  Do any of them have a sound economic case? In this paper we examine an ETS and some of the more prominent alternative (or complementary) policies in a consistent general equilibrium framework.  Our objective is to ascertain which policy or policies enable New Zealand to meet some given international emissions obligation at lowest economic cost.

Biography
Adolf has been responsible for managing Infometrics consulting services since 1997.  He has a PhD in economics and specialises in mathematical economics, econometrics and economic modelling. His work has included general equilibrium analyses of changes in import protection, road funding, climate change and carbon charges; econometric estimation of forecasting models and empirical relationships in the areas of corporate credit risk and organisational structure; and the development of microsimulation models of savings and the tertiary student loan scheme.  Adolf has been a member of the Advisory Committee on Economic Statistics since 1996 and he was an Expert Reviewer for the IPCC Working Group II Third and Fourth Assessment Reports.

 

Previous seminars

Cook, Len. 2010. “Social Sciences, Public Policy, and Difficult Decisions”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 26th August.

Oaxaca, Ronald. 2010. “The Challenge of Measuring Labour Market Discrimination Against Women”.  Wellington Public Policy Seminar, July.

Stillman, Steven. 2010. “Which Tongans move to New Zealand via the Pacific Assess Category quota, and how does it change their lives?” Wellington Public Policy Seminar, May.

Ritchie, Felix. 2010. “Microdata for policy research: lessons from the UK experience,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, March.

Somanathan, E. 2010. “The “tragedy” of the commons,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, March.

McCann, Philip. 2009. “Economic geography, globalisation and New Zealand’s productivity paradox,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, December. 

Maré, David C. 2009. “Labour productivity in Auckland firms: There’s something about the city,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, October.

Grimes, Arthur. 2009. “The need for speed: Impacts of internet connectivity on firm productivity,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, October.

Coffey, Shaun. 2009. “Investing in High-Tech,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, September.

Oxley, Les. 2009. “China’s Energy Economy: Substitution possibilities, market integration and some possible environmental implications,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, August.

MacCulloch, Robert. 2009. “Happiness, Contentment and other Emotions: Implications for Economic Policy,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, June.

Sheppard, Stephen. 2009. “The Economics of Liveable and Sustainable Cities,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, June. 

Kerr, Suzi. 2009. “Climate change policy: stepping back and moving forward,” Motu Economic and Public Policy Seminar, May.

Maani, Sholeh. 2009. “The Economic Impact of High Human Capital Immigration on the NZ Labour Market,” Motu Economic and Public Policy Seminar, April.

Bedford, Richard. 2009. “International migration in Kiribati and Tuvalu: A context for evaluating the impact of global warming on population movement in atoll territories,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, March.

Gibson, John. 2009. “Why do most of NZ’s best and brightest leave and what brings some of them back?” Motu Public Policy Seminar, February.


Gulati, Sumeet. 2008. “Evaluating Tax Rebates for Hybrid Vehicles,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, December.

Grafton, Quentin. 2008. “Bioeconomic Losses from Overharvesting Tuna,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, November.

Coleman, Andrew. 2008. “The Hidden Costs of Low Inflation: Savings, Tax and the Dearth of Home Ownership,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, October.

Jenkins, Stephen. 2008. “The Dynamics of Social Assistance Receipt: Measurement and Modelling Issues, with an Application to Britain” Motu Public Policy Seminar, October.

Kerr, Suzi. 2008. “Nutrient Trading in Lake Rotorua: A Prototype System” Motu Public Policy Seminar, September.

Roson, Roberto. 2008. “The Economic Impacts of Climate Change” Motu Public Policy Seminar, August.

Clark, William A. V. 2008. “Spatial Relocation as an Instrument of Social Policy” Motu Public Policy Seminar, July.

Hyslop, Dean. 2008. “Does cyclical employment growth lower wages?” Motu Public Policy Seminar, June.

Gemmell, Norman. 2008.  “Taxes and Economic Growth: what is all the fuss about?” Motu Public Policy Seminar, May.

Mays, Nicholas. 2008.  “Did New Labour ‘save’ the English National Health Service: a ten-year retrospective, 1997-2007,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, April.

Lavy, Victor. 2008.  “Monetary incentives for students and teachers in schools: Experimental evidence and policy implications,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, January.

Gunningham, Neil. 2007.  “Innovative governance and smart regulation: Institutional and regulatory regimes for a water-constrained world,” Motu/Landcare Research seminar, December.

Fabling, Richard. 2007. “The performance of New Zealand exporters: Some firm-level evidence,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, December.

Poot, Jacques. 2007. “Twenty years of econometric research on trans-Tasman migration,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, November.

Kerr, Suzi. 2007. “Key issues in the design of an emissions trading system for New Zealand,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, September.