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We help Kiwi decision makers grapple with complex social and environmental issues with world class economic and public policy research.

We help with well-informed and reasoned debate on public policy issues that matter to New Zealanders. 
Recent Webinar - Public Policy Seminar

The role of energy data in enabling climate change mitigation innovation

In this webinar, Gavin Starks provided an introduction to Open Energy: what it is, how it was made and who it is for. He spoke about the Open Energy ecosystem and the relationships and innovation…

Human rights

Monitoring enjoyment of the rights to adequate housing and health care and protection in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Livvy Mitchell | Susan Randolph | Paddy Baylis

Working Paper

This new paper shows successive New Zealand Governments have failed to keep human rights promises so all Kiwis can have the basic levels of housing and health care and protection in Aotearoa. The New Zealand…

Updates

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2021-12-01

Our policy for visitors and COVID-19 vaccination

You must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter Motu Research premises. 

2021-11-25

How international cooperation can help bridge the climate commitment gap in Aotearoa

One success of the latest global climate summit (COP26) held in Glasgow was the completion of a rulebook for international…

2021-11-01

Top economics students awarded prizes by Aotearoa's leading economic research institute

Motu Research, Aotearoa New Zealand’s top-ranked economic research institute, has just handed out its annual prizes and scholarships to three…

Our Research

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Wellbeing & macro-economics

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Population & labour

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Human rights

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Recent events

November 1, 2021

Wellbeing and policy, Aotearoa style

Treasury’s Living Standards Framework has been closely aligned with international models such as the OECD for over ten years. Some have said it is too generic and not sufficiently attuned to what wellbeing means in this country. In this seminar we will discuss He Ara Waiora, a mātauranga Māori framing of wellbeing that the Treasury now uses alongside the LSF. We will also discuss some new changes to the LSF that make it work better alongside He Ara Waiora, as well as being better attuned to the topics of child wellbeing and culture.

October 27, 2021

Buildings for net-zero: the European Union experience with sustainable housing regulation and implementation

The recently published report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) signals ‘a code red for humanity and recommends
that greenhouse gas emissions decrease as soon and as quickly as possible. Developed economies like the European Union and Aotearoa New Zealand can help in this effort by leading by example. Reducing our buildings' footprint is an important component to the transition to net-zero, yet many of those buildings that will stand in 2050 are energy inefficient buildings that already stand today.

August 26, 2021

Motu Women on equitable, effective climate transition

All children should be able to expect a future where they have the opportunity to thrive. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to that future. Acting on it effectively and fast is essential. We still have choices about how we halt climate change. More equitable decision-making and action (both within our own society and across diverse countries) all of which must rapidly head toward net zero, is a moral imperative and may also make the transformational change we seek more effective and durable.

Featured work

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Climate Teams: International Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Climate Action Teams (CATs)

Authors: Catherine Leining | Suzi Kerr | Ana Pueyo

Article

Researchers (including some from Motu Research) have developed Climate Action Teams (CATs), an innovative way for countries to use the latest global climate summit (COP26) rulebook for international carbon markets — in a way that…
Individual and group outcomes

Do workers share in firm success? Pass-through estimates for New Zealand

Authors: Dave Maré | Corey Allan

Working Paper

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…
Individual and group outcomes

Rates of driver licence holding in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Isabelle Sin | Hannah Kotula

Note

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

Methodology for Modelling Distributional Impacts of Emissions Budgets on Employment in New Zealand

Authors: Lynn Riggs | Livvy Mitchell

Working Paper

Efforts to reduce emissions to counter climate change are expected to have both costs and benefits, and these effects are likely to be unevenly distributed across the population. Hence, we developed the Distributional Impacts Microsimulation…
Housing

Housing, Health and the Well-being of Children

Authors: Lynn Riggs | Shakked Noy | Philippa Howden-Chapman | Miranda Devlin

Other

This study investigates the relationship between indoor damp, mould, cold and household crowding and the health outcomes of young children exposed to those conditions in Aotearoa.
Emissions trading

Future Options for Industrial Free Allocation in the NZ ETS

Authors: Catherine Leining | Benjamin Rontard

Working Paper

This new Motu Research paper examines a range of options for reforming industrial free allocation: changing the eligibility criteria, changing the calculation methodology, substituting alternative measures, or accepting and managing emissions leakage. Further research is…
Human rights

Finding the Gaps: Monitoring Economic and Social Rights in the Pacific

Authors: Shaan Badenhorst | Susan Randolph | John Stewart

Working Paper

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) provides annual scores to show how well countries are meeting their human rights obligations and treating their people as well as they can.  HRMI's economic and social rights measurement methodology uses Purchasing Power…
Human rights

Monitoring Economic and Social Rights in the Pacific

Authors: Shaan Badenhorst | Susan Randolph | John Stewart

Working Paper

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) provides annual scores to show how well countries are meeting their human rights obligations and treating their people as well as they can.  This report looks at economic and social rights enjoyment in…
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