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Promoting well-informed and reasoned debate on public policy issues that matter to New Zealanders. 
Individual and group outcomes

The Drivers of Mothers’ Parental Leave Decisions: Evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal survey

Authors: Isabelle Sin | Shakked Noy

Working Paper

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

Individual and group outcomes

Involuntary job loss: Welfare effects, earnings impacts, and policy options

Authors: Dave Maré | Dean Hyslop | Isabelle Sin | Shakked Noy

Working Paper

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.

Updates

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2021-07-05

PhD funding available for improving outcomes of tenants living in public housing

Are you interested in improving the outcomes of tenants living in public housing?

2021-06-29

Research shows employers and the Government could do more to support working mothers

A new study from Motu Research highlights employers and the Government could do more to support working mothers.

2021-05-03

Motu Research study investigates impact of government heating programme on household wellbeing

EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) has commissioned Motu Research to investigate the impact of heat pumps in homes with…

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Motu Research Round Table

June 30, 2021

Exploring immigration settings, effects and outcomes

New Zealand has a unique opportunity (post covid) to examine our approach to immigration settings. In this seminar, presented by David Card, we open the immigration conversation by exploring immigration effects and outcomes more broadly.

Recent events

August 12, 2021

Confronting freshwater security challenges and pathways to resilience.

It is critical that we understand the contribution of climate change to water insecurity and yet there are still many challenges to measuring these impacts. How can we plan for freshwater resilience in New Zealand and safeguard our most precious resource?

June 3, 2021

Minimum wages in New Zealand: Sharp tool or blunt instrument?

New Zealand has seen dramatic changes in minimum wage policies since 2000 with the adult Statutory Minimum Wage in New Zealand rising substantially (75% in real terms). In this seminar we discuss the motivations for minimum wages, the changes over time, and how they have affected workers outcomes.
Surprisingly, it is hard to find a clear statement of what minimum wage policies aim to achieve.
Is a minimum wage policy as effective as claimed by its supporters, or as damaging as claimed by its critics?

April 1, 2021

Motu Research briefing: Boosting voluntary climate action in Aotearoa New Zealand. Part 1

In this webinar, Motu Policy Fellow Catherine Leining introduced an innovative policy proposal for boosting voluntary carbon action and enabling organisations to make credible, transparent and marketable claims.

Featured work

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Individual and group outcomes

The Drivers of Mothers’ Parental Leave Decisions: Evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal survey

Authors: Isabelle Sin | Shakked Noy

Working Paper

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

Training videos - New Zealand ETS

Article

In mid-2020, Catherine Leining and Sandra Cortés Acosta produced a series of short videos in English and Spanish explaining operational aspects of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.
Individual and group outcomes

Involuntary job loss: Welfare effects, earnings impacts, and policy options

Authors: Dave Maré | Dean Hyslop | Isabelle Sin | Shakked Noy

Working Paper

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.
Firm productivity and performance

Of interest? Estimating the average interest rate on debt across firms and over time

Author: Richard Fabling

Working Paper

Our research shows firms that self-report being finance constrained face higher average interest rates than unconstrained firms. These differences in interest costs are, at least in part, due to constrained firms undertaking higher risk activities…
Housing

Warmer Kiwis Study

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Caroline Fyfe | Phoebe Taptiklis

Other

The Warmer Kiwis Study is collecting data over winter 2021 in homes of Kiwis who have a heat pump installed through the EECA Warmer Kiwi Homes programme.
Firm performance and labour dynamics

Minimum Wages in New Zealand: Policy and practice in the 21st century

Authors: Dave Maré | Dean Hyslop

Working Paper

This paper reviews the changes and impacts of the Statutory Minimum Wage in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past 20 years. The research finds minimum wage policies are not as effective as claimed by its…
Climate change mitigation

Permanent forest investment in a climate of uncertainty

Authors: Arthur Grimes | Sandra Cortés-Acosta

Working Paper

Forestry investment involves long time horizons. Planting decisions must be made amidst a range of uncertainties.
Climate change mitigation

Voluntary climate mitigation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Publication

This paper proposes an innovative two-track system aimed at scaling up voluntary climate action to help Aotearoa New Zealand meet its Paris Agreement targets – or mitigate beyond the targets.
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