You are here > Home / Research / Building Capability / Public Policy Seminars
Public Policy Seminars
The Motu Public Policy Seminar series provides a forum for informed debate on important public policy issues. Through the series, we aim to make make the latest economic research more accessible to inform policy debates in New Zealand. Our seminars are accessible to a wide audience, and are attended by people from diverse backgrounds who want to stay informed on economic, social and public policy research. The seminars are presented by the Motu Senior Fellows and Affiliates, as well as other top visiting academics from within New Zealand or around the world. These seminars are free to the public, and there is no need to register to attend.
You can sign up here to receive email invitations to either our Wellington or Auckland seminars.
Wellington Public Policy Seminars
The Wellington Public Policy Seminar Series is an approximately monthly forum featuring recent research by Motu’s Senior Fellows and Affiliates, as well as other renowned national and international speakers.
Through our seminars, we aim to make existing knowledge more accessible for policy debates in New Zealand. The series has been running 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.
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. Sign up to receive seminar notices here.
The Wellington Public Policy Seminar Series is sponsored by The Treasury and Statistics New Zealand.
Upcoming seminar: Improving the Quality of Housing: How Public Policy can Promote Multiple Benefits
Speakers: Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, Director, He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, Wellington, and Dr Arthur Grimes - Senior Fellow at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
When: Wednesday 9th May, 12.30-2pm
Where: Spectrum Theatre, BP House, 20 Customhouse Quay Wellington
All Motu Public Policy Seminars are open to the public and are free to attend. You can sign up to recieve email notification of Motu’s events and publications here.
Abstract
Considerable evidence now exists that housing quality affects health status. Sub-standard housing contributes to respiratory disease and impacts negatively on other health and social outcomes. Energy use is inefficient in poorly insulated houses, while poor heating choices can both increase energy use and decrease health status. This seminar outlines key findings from a programme of research into healthy housing issues in New Zealand conducted by Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and colleagues at He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago. In a recent study, University of Otago researchers joined with researchers from Motu and elsewhere to evaluate initial impacts of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme This programme is designed to promote installation of retrofitted insulation and healthy heating options in over 188,000 houses over 2009-2013. Results from this initial evaluation will be presented in the context of the broader healthy housing research programme.
Back to top
Auckland Public Policy Seminars
The Auckland Public Policy Seminar Series is a regular forum featuring renowned national and international speakers.
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, such as infrastructure, water quality, climate change, housing, and immigration.
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.
You do not need to register for seminars to attend. Sign up to receive seminar notices here.
The Auckland Public Policy Seminar Series is sponsored by: The Auckland Policy Office, Auckland Council, and The Tindall Foundation.Upcoming seminar: Improving the Quality of Housing: How Public Policy can Promote Multiple Benefits
Speakers: Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, Director, He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, Wellington, and Dr Arthur Grimes - Senior Fellow at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
When: Thursday 10th May, 12.30-2pm
Where: Women’s Federation Room, Old Government House, Cnr Princes Street and Waterloo Quay
All Motu Public Policy Seminars are open to the public and are free to attend. You can sign up to recieve email notification of Motu’s events and publications here.
Abstract
Considerable evidence now exists that housing quality affects health status. Sub-standard housing contributes to respiratory disease and impacts negatively on other health and social outcomes. Energy use is inefficient in poorly insulated houses, while poor heating choices can both increase energy use and decrease health status. This seminar outlines key findings from a programme of research into healthy housing issues in New Zealand conducted by Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and colleagues at He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago. In a recent study, University of Otago researchers joined with researchers from Motu and elsewhere to evaluate initial impacts of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme This programme is designed to promote installation of retrofitted insulation and healthy heating options in over 188,000 houses over 2009-2013. Results from this initial evaluation will be presented in the context of the broader healthy housing research programme.
Motu Public Policy Seminar Series: Previous Seminars
You can view information from previous Public Policy Seminars held in Wellington and Auckland here. Recordings, presentation slides and related papers are included where available.
2012
Taxpayers’ behavioural responses and the ‘Laffer Effect’. Wellington, April 19th.
Speaker: Professor Norman Gemmell, Chair in Public Finance at Victoria University of Wellington.
The empirical literature on the elasticity of taxable income (ETI) sometimes questions whether estimated values are consistent with being on the revenue-increasing section of the Laffer curve, usually in the context of a single rate tax system or for top marginal rates. This paper develops conceptual expressions for this ‘Laffer-maximum’ or revenue-maximizing ETI for the multi-rate income tax systems commonly used in practice. Using the New Zealand income tax system in 2010 to illustrate its properties, the paper demonstrates that a wide rangeof revenue-maximizing ETI values can be expected across individual taxpayers,across tax brackets and in aggregate.
Related paper Revenue-Maximising Elasticities of Taxable Income in Multi-Rate Income Tax Structures
Managing Water Quality Using Markets. Auckland, April 4th.
Speaker: Dr Suzi Kerr, Senior Fellow at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
New Zealand sells itself as clean and green, yet that reputation is threatened by deteriorating water quality. Addressing water quality effectively requires good science, economic efficiency, community support and cultural change. Motu, along with NIWA and a broad team of researchers and stakeholders, have run an integrated five-year programme focusing on a subset of these issues within the Lake Rotorua catchment. Water quality in Lake Rotorua has been declining for at least 30 years as increased levels of nutrients have entered the lake. Despite significant effort and expenditure, the level of nutrients entering the lake still exceeds desired levels. Suzi will present a prototype nutrient trading scheme for Lake Rotorua that was developed with local stakeholders and builds on the Lake Taupo experience. The trading scheme aims to meet the community’s environmental goals in a certain and cost-effective way, maximise participant flexibility and distribute costs fairly. We are synthesising general lessons from this programme that are now being used by Regional Councils around New Zealand and in processes such as the Land and Water Forum. Suzi will discuss how markets might be used more widely and present some key lessons from Rotorua for New Zealand.
Related papers:
Water Quality Symposium, 3rd April 2012 - Abstracts and Papers
Nutrient Trading in Lake Rotorua: Design, Implementation and Enforcement - Legal Issues
Nutrient Trading Programme: Enforcement Issues
Global and Local Fairness in Climate Policy. Wellington, March 21st.
Speaker: Thomas Sterner, Professor of environmental economics at the University of Gothenburg.
Global climate change stands out from most environmental problems because it will span generations and forces us to think in new ways about intergenerational fairness. It involves the delicate problem of complex coordination between countries on a truly global scale. As long as fossil fuels are too cheap, climate change policy will engage all major economies. The costs are high enough to make efficiency a priority, which means striving toward a single market for carbon-plus tackling the thorny issues of fairness. The latter is the focus of Sterner’s talk. Sterner will discuss some necessary ingredients for a long-term global climate strategy and stresses that as we wait for the final (and maybe elusive) worldwide treaty, we must find a policy that makes sense and is not only compatible with, but facilitates the development of such a treaty. He also challenges the cwonventional wisdom that gasoline taxation, an important and much-debated instrument of climate policy, has a disproportionately detrimental effect on poor people. Increased fuel taxes carry the potential to mitigate carbon emissions, reduce congestion, and improve local urban environment. As such, higher gasoline taxes could prove to be a fundamental part of any climate action plan. However, they have been resisted by powerful lobbies that have persuaded people that increased fuel taxation would be regressive. Reporting on examples of over two dozen countries, this book sets out to empirically investigate this claim. The authors conclude that while there may be some slight regressivity in some high-income countries, as a general rule, fuel taxation is a progressive policy particularly in low income countries.
Do our conservation programmes work? Economic Evaluation of Biodiversity Projects. Wellington, March 22nd.
Speakers: Ross Cullen, Professor of Resource Economics at Lincoln University, & Kathy Baylis, Assistant Professor in Agriculture and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois.
There are limited funds available for conservation projects. Choices must therefore be made on how to use limited resources most effectively, and such decisions should be based on clear and measurable objectives for achievement. Project selection and evaluation methods are used patchily by biodiversity project
providers and researchers. Conventional methods for evaluating conservation impact tend to be biased because they do not compare like areas nor do they account for spatial relations. Ross Cullen will provide an introduction to biodiversity project evaluation; outline the range of economic evaluation methods available; and focus attention on the need to overcome hurdles to adoption and continuation of economic evaluation methods. Kathy will describe a recent study applying a spatial analysis on the effectiveness of a forest (and Monarch butterfly habitat) conservation program in Mexico. The study assesses the effect of a
conservation initiative that combined designation of protected areas with payments for environmental services to conserve overwintering habitat for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in Mexico.
Saving a super scheme - The economics of PAYGO and SAYGO retirement schemes in New Zealand. Wellington, March 8th.
Speaker: Dr Andrew Coleman, Senior Fellow at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
Discussant: Dr Malcom Menzies, Research Manager at the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income.
Nearly fifty years ago, Peter Diamond showed that prefunded (save-as-you-go) retirement scheme require much smaller contributions for any level of retirement incomes than pay-as-you-go retirement schemes if the return to capital investments is larger than the growth rate of the economy. Since then, a voluminous
international literature has examined the comparative merits of the types of schemes. In general, this literature has shown that there would be significant efficiency gains from making a full or partial conversion to SAYGO funded retirement scheme, but that there are difficult transition issues. This talk examines the economics of PAYGO and SAYGO funded saving schemes in New Zealand. It argues that it is likely that the annual tax contributions needed to support the current New Zealand Superannuation scheme could be halved if the scheme were fully converted to a SAYGO scheme, and that feasible transition paths to a partially funded SAYGO scheme exist. Converting New Zealand’s retirement scheme to a SAYGO funding basis is therefore a possible solution to the issues associated with population ageing. A comparison with Australia, where people are reaping the rewards of making the transition to a mixed SAYGO-and PAYGO pension scheme, is offered.
Related papers:
Motu Note #8: PAYGO v SAYGO: Prefunding Government-Provided Pensions
Motu Note #7: Behavioural Economics: Implications for the Savings Literature
Motu Note #6: Mandatory Retirement Income Schemes, Saving Incentives, and KiwiSaver
2011
Weitzman, Martin. 2011. “The economics of climate change: Why is it so difficult and controversial?,” Wellington and Auckland seminar, co-hosted with NZIER and The Treasury, December.
View the video recording of Professor Weitzman’s Auckland seminar here
Economic analysis of what to do about climate change has sometimes been described as an economist’s nightmare. In this lecture, Dr Weitzman tries to explain why this particular application of cost-benefit analysis is more difficult than other, more ordinary, applications - and what it might mean.
The audience should come away with an appreciation for why the economics of climate change is so controversial and why economics is unlikely to come up with crisp sharp answers about what exactly to do about it.
Rapson, David. 2011. “The smart grid and residential electricity use: What we know, what we don’t, and the case for collaborating with academic researchers,” Motu Wellington and Auckland Public Policy Seminar, November and December.
When it comes to electricity use, people don’t respond to price as much as many might expect. At the same time, behavioral nudges and technological defaults have been shown to produce meaningful demand responses. New technologies that comprise the so-called “Smart Grid” offer several opportunities to leverage these insights into behavioral change. However, translating these insights into policy is fraught with potential pitfalls. In this talk I will discuss how to make the most out of these new technologies (or, more precisely, how to figure out how to make the most of them). I will show why randomized field experiments are invaluable in this setting, and explain why regulators and public utilities stand to benefit immensely from collaborating with academics on research design.
Sanderson, Lynda. 2011. “International engagement and performance of New Zealand firms,” Wellington Public Policy Seminar, August.
Alcock, Frank. 2011. “Deepwater Horizon: What happened, why and where do we go from here?,” Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 1st June.
Seminar slides (2.4MB)
Sin, Isabelle. 2011. “International Diffusion of Ideas,” Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 23rd March.
Seminar slides (488KB)
Listen to the seminar recording here on Youtube (37 minutes).
MacKenzie, Ian. 2011. “Is Cap-and-Trade Failing? Corrective Policies for the Future”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 3rd March.
Download Ian’s seminar slides here.
2010
Poot, Jacques. 2010. “Economic Impacts of Immigration”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 16th December.
- Download the seminar slides here (PDF 1.11MB).
- Download related paper “New Zealand Research on the Economic Impacts of Immigration 2005-2010: Synthesis and Research Agenda” here.
Griffith, Rachel. 2010. “Public Policy and Growth”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 9th December.
- Download seminar slides for “Public Policy and Growth” here (PDF 566KB)
- Download Philip Steven’s (discussant) seminar slides (PDF 167KB)
- Download related draft paper “Public Policy and Growth in New Zealand (DRAFT)” (PDF 1.03 MB)
Tienda, Marta. 2010. “Migration and Youth Development: Insights from a Child Centric Approach”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 4th November.
Stroombergen, Adolf. 2010. “General Equilibrium Analysis of CO2 Mitigation Options”. Wellington Public Policy Seminar, 23rd September.
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.
- Seminar slides
- Related paper (PDF 245KB)
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.
- Seminar slides
- Pacific migration project homepage
Ritchie, Felix. 2010. “Microdata for policy research: lessons from the UK experience,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, March.
- Seminar slides (PPT 334KB)
Somanathan, E. 2010. “The “tragedy” of the commons,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, March.
- Seminar slides (PDF 413KB)
- Related paper: Norm compliance and strong reciprocity
- Related paper: The evolution of social norms in common property resource use
2009
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.
- Seminar slides
- Related paper: Agglomeration Elasticities in New Zealand
- Related paper: Labour productivity in Auckland firms
- Related paper: Geographic concentration and firm productivity
- Related paper: Concentration, specialisation and agglomeration of firms in New Zealand
Grimes, Arthur. 2009. “The need for speed: Impacts of internet connectivity on firm productivity,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, October.
- Seminar slides (PDF 248KB)
- Discussant slides - Bronwyn Howell (PDF 77KB)
- Related paper: The need for speed: Impacts of internet connectivity on firm productivity
Coffey, Shaun. 2009. “Investing in High-Tech,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, September.
- Seminar slides (PDF 674 KB)
Oxley, Les. 2009. “China’s Energy Economy: Substitution possibilities, market integration and some possible environmental implications,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, August.
- Seminar slides
- Related paper: China’s Energy Economy: Technical Change, Factor Demand and Interfactor/Interfuel Substitution
- Related paper: Testing for Energy Market Integration in China
- Related paper: China’s Energy Economy: Technical Change, Factor Demand and Interfactor/Interfuel Substitution
MacCulloch, Robert. 2009. “Happiness, Contentment and other Emotions: Implications for Economic Policy,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, June.
- Seminar slides (PDF 576 KB)
- Related paper: Happiness, Contentment and other Emotions for Central Banks (PDF 344 KB)
Sheppard, Stephen. 2009. “The Economics of Liveable and Sustainable Cities,” Motu Public Policy Seminar, June.
- Seminar slides
- Seminar recording (MP3 63MB)
- Related paper: Infill versus outspill: microstructure and urban expansion (PDF 4.11MB)
- Related paper: Measuring and modeling urban expansion (PDF 2.33MB)
- Related paper: Do planning policies limit the expansion of cities? (PDF 3.00MB)
- Project website main page
- Project website page: download files to show maps of total urban land use in Google Earth
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.
2008
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.
2007
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.
Back to top