bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Maintaining private views in Java
Authors:   , Haslett Paran
Published: December 2021

When developers collaborate on a project there are times when the code diverges. When this happens the code may need to be refactored to best suit the changes before they are applied. In these situations it would be valuable to have a private view. This view would be functionally equivalent to other views and be able to present the code in a different form. It enables a developer to refactor or change the code to their tastes, with minimal impact on other developers. Changes in the order of methods and the addition of comments currently impact other developers even if there is no change in how the code works. The Refactor Categories Tool has been written to detect where Java source code has been moved within a file or comments have been added, removed or edited. This indicates that it would be useful for version control systems to differentiate between changes to a program that also change the behaviour and those that do not.
Tragedy, Pluralism, Agonism: Ancient Greek Tragedy as a foundation for pluralist theory, with an application to pluralist agonism
Authors:   , Forde Xavier Lloyd
Published: December 2021

In Fifth Century B.C. Athens, the tragic playwrights took upon themselves the traditional mantle of poet-sage and responded to the cultural crisis of their time: the rupture within the Athenian mindset between on the one hand, an emergent Enlightenment-style discourse based on the juridico-political rationality of the democratic polis and on a confident assessment of the human condition, and on the other, the archaic discourse of myth and its “pessimism of strength”.  Their plays held the two in an uneasy yet creative tension, projecting a pluralist ethos grounded in the assertion of the ambiguity and limits of the human condition. The thesis seeks to elaborate on the nature of this pre-philosophical ethos through the exploration of ancient Greek history and thought and the plays themselves. It delineates the expression in this ethos of a dual movement of problematisation and renewal: a critical, problematising, attitude towards both “rational” and “mythic” discourses, and in the space of thought created by this self-questioning, the elaboration of a minimalist platform for claim-making compatible with both the tragic onto-epistemology of limits and moderation and life in the democratic polis.  This reading of the plays recognizes the problematisation of monistic claim-making in terms of truth, identity, values and politics. For instance, the playwrights call into question the archaic code of honour of the hero or the instrumental rationality adopted by some of their contemporary Athenian politicians: both systems of value are deemed too rigid and too simplistic to accord with the ambiguity and diversity of life in the city. It also outlines the values of moderation, reciprocity, and public-interestedness that are put forward by the tragedians as palliatives to the antagonism generated by monistic claim-making. These form a pluralist platform on which the democratic contest can be played out without reifying any singular and substantive account of politics, and with a lesser likelihood of dividing the city into factions that seek power at the expense of the city’s survival.  The thesis then concludes with an application of the pluralist ethos of classical tragedy to a contemporary pluralist theory. By maintaining the tension between rationalist and mythic discourses, classical tragedy presents to Athenians a “constructive deconstruction” of their worldview. Tragedy’s pre-philosophical and pluralist ethos can underpin the democratic theory of “pluralist agonism”, helping it to navigate a course between modern foundationalist and anti-foundationalist philosophical ethos and their expressions in democratic theory: the liberal reification of constitutionalism and the democratic privileging of popular sovereignty.
Essays in law and economics
Authors:   , Winkler Kay Eric
Published: December 2021

The thesis consists of four chapters concerning different topics of Law and Economics.  The first chapter deals with economic issues in competition law. In order to distinguish predatory pricing from competition on the merits, the courts in the United States and in the European Union have established cost-based tests that also include an assessment of the market structure. The tests miss a causal connection between conduct and foreclosure. In contrast, Australia and New Zealand make use of a counterfactual analysis that establishes causality. However, the causal connection there relates to the market power and the conduct, and does not answer whether the conduct has only been done because of the foreclosure effects. A counterfactual test could be useful in predation cases if it establishes a causal link between the profitability of the conduct and the foreclosure effect.  The second chapter explores the effect of excluding tort law for workplace accidents. In countries with workers’ compensation schemes, employees receive compensation for injuries at work regardless of fault, while private law liability of employers is either limited or fully excluded. The degree of liability matters for workplace safety, and different legal arrangements influence incentives of employers and employees to take care. An empirical analysis of several jurisdictions reveals a consistent pattern. The combination of arrangements that increase private law liability and mitigate moral hazard seems to be important for safety at work. No-fault workers’ compensation with the benefit of effective compensation comes with a cost: more injuries of those, which it seeks to protect.  The third chapter assesses the effect of no-fault automobile insurances on safety incentives. In order to examine how no-fault motor vehicle insurance affects accident rates, insurance regimes in various countries are compared. A random effects model on fatality data of 29 countries reveals that some motor vehicle insurance systems increase moral hazard. The incentive to take care seems not to be negatively affected by no-fault rules, but by moral hazard due to limited experience rating. Restrictions on experience rating lower the level of care taken by motorists. A combination of no-fault insurance and flat-rate premiums, as found in New Zealand or the Northern Territory in Australia, has a detrimental effect on the safety of roads.  The fourth chapter primarily builds on the finding of the second chapter that the exclusion of tort law for workplace injuries results in higher accident rates. In this respect, the question arises whether health and safety regulation can counteract the detrimental effect by providing deterrence from criminal sanctions. This is particularly relevant for New Zealand where a tendency of the law towards a reliance on regulation and criminal law can be observed. In practice, however, criminal law cannot fully replace common law in establishing incentives to take care, and is not as effective as private law actions.
Sex trafficking, victimisation and agency: The experiences of migrant women in Malaysia
Authors:   , Abdul Hamid Haezreena Begum binti
Published: December 2021

Malaysia has criminalised sex work. However, its geographic location, porous borders and proximity to major trade and traffic routes have ensured a growth in sex trafficking activities. As a result, the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’ and the ‘United States Trafficking in Persons Report’ have categorised Malaysia as a destination, transit and source point for sex trafficking in Asia. In response to such categorisations, Malaysia has ratified the (Palermo) ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children’ and structured its anti-trafficking laws around prosecution, protection and prevention (referred to as the ‘3P’ policy).  This thesis shows that the enforcement of victim-protection policies is carried out in contradictory ways in Malaysia. Trafficked women are portrayed as victims in need of care and protection, but also as individuals who have violated immigration laws and engaged in ‘immoral’ acts. This results in state practices that (re)victimise women through policing, immigration and court processes which are often deeply stressful, traumatising and violent. Punitive practices – including ‘state and rescue’ operations and long-term detention – have been legitimised and branded as ‘victim protection’. In this context, the thesis argues that current policies and practices represent a continuing form of violence against migrant women in Malaysia.  Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the thesis draws upon the stories of twenty-nine women who have been arrested and detained on the basis of their sex trafficked status as well as the perspectives of twelve anti-trafficking professionals involved in delivering the 3P policy. In doing so, the thesis shows how women are subject to prolonged victimisation at the hands of both traffickers and state authorities. However, it also provides an understanding of the ways in which ‘sex-trafficked’ women exercise courage, strength and resiliency in the face of the continuing harms against them. By demonstrating the nuances of agency throughout women’s migration experiences, the thesis challenges the stereotypical understanding of an ‘ideal’ victim of trafficking – commonly linked to images of passivity, weakness and worthiness.  By providing an insight into women’s experiences of sex-trafficking and state ‘protection’, the thesis develops a more nuanced account of agency. Thus, the thesis argues that the state’s prevention of sex-trafficking as well as the protection of trafficked women cannot be progressively advanced without a fuller appreciation of women’s dual ‘victim’ and ‘agent’ identities. The thesis explores the implications of these findings on developing ‘anti-sex trafficking’ policies towards women in Malaysia.
"Shaking His Hairy Chaps": The Iconography of Bearded Snakes
Authors:   , Murdoch Jaimee
Published: December 2021

The bearded snake is an unusual motif that appears in a variety of contexts and media throughout the Classical world. It is used in Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian art and literature. This thesis addresses the Greek use of the bearded snake. The beard of the snake, much like the beard of a human figure, varies in terms of its size, shape, and level of detailing. It may be a simple single line or a series of long, clearly defined hairs. The use of this human feature on serpents has received minimal attention. When the motif is discussed it is generally only considered in terms of its use in one context, such as on depictions of Zeus Meilichios or on the Lakonian hero reliefs. The aim of this thesis is to discuss the use of the bearded snake in the most common contexts in which it may occur in order to provide a better understanding of the meaning of this unusual motif. Such contexts include anguiform deities, pure serpents, hybrid creatures, and attributes of monsters and deities.  Two of the more influential explanations of the use of the beard are those by Aelian, from the third century AD, and Jane Harrison, from 1903. These interpretations consider the bearded snake in slightly different terms. Where Aelian believes the beard to indicate a male serpent, Harrison considers the feature to be a means through which the snake is implied to be an anthropomorphic deity. Chapter One provides the background interpretations of the snake and the beard as distinct motifs. The findings from this chapter will form the basis for the interpretations given in Chapters Two and Three. Chapter Two considers the flaws of Aelian’s explanation of the beard as an indicator of gender, by looking at the use of the beard in the context of divine and monstrous women such as Medusa and Athena. Chapter Three addresses Harrison’s anthropomorphic argument, by considering both anguiform and non-anguiform figures. This will provide a wider range of contexts than either Aelian or Harrison discuss. In doing so, I intend to consider the meaning of the bearded snake using a considerably larger range of sources, in order to give the best possible explanation for this unusual motif.
The language of lace and embroidery from the court of Louis XIV through to contemporary haute couture
Authors:   , Lloyd Catherine
Published: December 2021

The history of thread work is a story of practicality and functionality, but it is also a tale of power, fashion, virtuosity, decorum, art and culture. Thread work has played a role as a visual language in France for many centuries, continually evolving in its techniques and range of expressive and stylistic possibilities and thus in its significance as a communicative medium. In more recent times, thread work has come to be considered as a form of social and cultural discourse in its own right that is consequently referred to as ‘visual rhetoric’. Following this unique form of visual discourse through the history of fashion allows consideration of the development of identity and gender roles in French society as well as the interrelated narratives of the creative processes involved in the production of lace and embroidery. These reflections lead in turn to consideration of the ways processes of production and consumption were disrupted and transformed by major events, by sumptuary laws and political edicts. The language of thread work has been encoded and decoded by all socio-economic classes, and is underwritten by tensions between power and dependency, rich and poor, light and dark, public show and private domesticity. It has the capacity to express identities and to enhance communities. In more recent times the reconsideration of the value of thread work in the design concepts of haute couture has seen a revitalisation of the appreciation of this medium in an industry associated with luxury, exclusivity and creativity. The language of thread-work remains ambivalent and complex in France today, signifying an innocuous ‘feminine’ pastime on the one hand, and a valued professional skill and cultural heritage on the other.
Music and philosophical naturalism
Authors:   , Killin Anton
Published: December 2021

The philosophical and scientific explication of music is a cutting-edge field in contemporary academia. This thesis develops a naturalistic framework for theorising about music. The following novel philosophical positions are motivated and defended: a polysemy analysis of “sound”, conceptual pluralism about music, a pluralistic framework for approaching the science of music, and a fictionalist account of Western musical artworks. The adaptation/ by-product framework for couching discussion about the evolution of music is critiqued. A novel, co-evolutionary, niche construction model of the foundations of musicality and the origins, expansion and stabilisation of music is developed, couched in the general context of hominin evolution and prehistory. Conceptual and methodological reflection accompanies the evolutionary scenario developed.
Tests of Social Dominance on Charitable Intent Towards Minorities
Authors:   , Bastion Zacchaeus
Published: December 2021

This thesis investigates the hypothesis that the design of adverts for charitable causes may be unintentionally priming viewers in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO: Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle, 1994). Huang and Liu (2005) found evidence that presenting people with material that makes social hierarchies salient can temporarily increase a person's level of SDO. As many charities make differences in social hierarchy salient as part of their advertisement campaigns, it is possible that such advertisements may unintentionally prime the SDO of viewers. Given prior research that indicates that high SDO is correlated with antisocial attitudes (Sibley & Duckitt, 2010), such priming may be reducing the likelihood that viewers would donate towards the charitable cause. First, a pre-test was conducted to test the psychometric structure and reliability of the SDO7 (Ho, et al., in print) and the Counter Dominance Orientation measure (CDO: Pratto et al., 2012). Confirmatory factor analysis of each measure found a four-factor model of SDO and a two-factor model of CDO. Subsequently, 139 first-year students of psychology were used to test the previously-mentioned hypothesis. Participants were asked to critically evaluate one of two adverts for a student support service, with the one in the experimental condition being for a service for Māori and Pacifica students. The intent of this advert was to prime viewers on SDO. Afterwards, they engaged in a hypothetical public goods game where a portion of the money pool would go towards the service the advert was for. If the hypothesis was correct, participants who were primed on SDO would be less willing to contribute towards a cause that supported minorities, but the data did not support this. Implications and potential future research, both for the new measures and the hypothesis are explored.
Pensato: A Virtual Reality Framework for Musical Performance
Authors:   , Mallett Byron
Published: December 2021

This thesis presents the design for a method of controlling music software for live performance by utilising virtual reality (VR) technologies. By analysing the performance methods of artists that use either physical or gestural methods for controlling music, it is apparent that physical limitations of musical input devices can hamper the creative process involved in authoring an interface for a performance. This thesis proposes the use of VR technologies as a central foundation for authoring a unique workspace where a performance interface can be both constructed and performed with. Through a number of design experiments using a variety of gestural input technologies, the relationship between a musical performer, interface, and audience was analysed. The final proposed design of a VR interface for musical performance focuses on providing the performer with objects that can be directly manipulated with physical gestures performed by touching virtual controls. By utilising the strengths provided by VR, a performer can learn how to effectively operate their performance environment through the use of spatial awareness provided by VR stereoscopic rendering and hand tracking, as well as allowing for the construction of unique interfaces that are not limited by physical hardware constraints. This thesis also presents a software framework for connecting together multiple musical devices within a single performance ecosystem that can all be directly controlled from a single VR space. The final outcome of this research is a shared musical environment that is designed to foster closer connections between an audience, a performer and a performance interface into a coherent and appealing experience for all.
ADR and the rule of law under a modern justice system
Authors:   , Shaw Annabel
Published: December 2021

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has been used around the world as a means to resolve conflict for hundreds of years, and has existed in its more modern form for more than four decades. Despite this long history and widespread use, ADR is still challenged as an illegitimate part of the justice system. This challenge has not gone unheeded and has been met with a vigorous defence. Much of the ensuing debate centres on the comparison between this ‘alternative’ form of justice and what is often called the more traditional form, adjudication. This paper addresses the longstanding claim made as part of this debate that ADR undermines the rule of law. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether ADR and the rule of law can be reconciled. It does this by firstly laying out and analysing the arguments made for and against ADR in this regard. Following this analysis, it proposes that ADR and the rule of law can be reconciled through the symbiotic relationship that exists between ADR and adjudication within the modern justice system. This theory is then evidenced through a case study by way of an examination of New Zealand’s restorative justice practice in the adult criminal justice system. The paper finds that ADR contributes necessary functions to the modern justice system, including the opportunity for broader justice through the wide and encompassing resolution of disputes that it can provide, and is clearly established as an essential component of the modern justice system. It concludes that ADR does not undermine the rule of law and these two can be reconciled.
Elevation: Folding the Interior
Authors:   , Kilgour Kristin Grace
Published: December 2021

This research anticipates that by repurposing the interior of existing and vacant historic architecture, significant to the community it serves, the life span of buildings can be prolonged. This in turn will lead to the progress of New Zealand’s history in architecture.  This research proposes to introduce a transient intervention, in which design disregards the site context and is influenced by the historic materials. The design offers new and relative functions for buildings, thereby offering a stay of demolition, for a period of time. It reasons that the process of repurposing can be done exclusively through interior development, using installation methods that will not compromise the integrity of the historic materials. This will enable the design to be removed and the architecture to be returned to the condition it was in prior to the engagement of this research design. It is assumed by research that at this time the building’s historic value will outweigh the perceived financial gains of redevelopment.  Change is inevitable in society. However, architecture is not so malleable and tends to resist change. It needs help adjusting with time. When communities develop, buildings do not always meet their increasing demands. They can become too small or the programme loses relevance. According to Johannes Cramer and Stefan Breitling “architecture should outlive humans” (Cramer), however, Heritage New Zealand notes that in the last fourteen years 26 historically listed buildings have been demolished to accommodate redevelopment, in New Zealand.  This research takes three sites from Lower Hutt to represent this architecture in need. Each will give new insight for physical material and intangible features which are important to retain when working to preserve historic architecture.
Anti-Static: Overcoming Suburbia through Kinetic spaces
Authors:   , Rogers Thomas Hugo
Published: December 2021

Problem: Anti-Static critiques economically driven development that is exclusive of the natural environment creating uninspiring places comparable to low density urban environments. It proposes a new system of building, using motion of traditionally static elements, that encourages flexibility of space, sharing, and achieves higher densities and better connections to the natural context.   Location: A strong reliance on vehicular transport and the ‘Pavlova Paradise’, or quarter-acre dream mind-set has created a sprawling built environment and inflexible building stock that threatens to engulf the landscape. Queenstown is an extreme example of this condition; intense pressure to develop is resisted by a need to protect the beautiful environment that attracts nearly two million visitors annually. Current solutions look to satellite towns, but this poses many issues regarding increased infrastructure use and environmental degradation.  Aims and Objectives: This thesis applies the system to propose new standards for upwards and inwards development that focuses on sequestering integrated public open space. The theoretical component of this thesis argues for the intertwining of an objective and subjective theory: ‘Biophilia’ and ‘Picturesque Beauty’. It is argued that ‘picturesque beauty’, a visual style that appreciates natural composition, is strengthened by the contemporary theory of Biophilia, which states that people are intrinsically drawn to natural processes.  The aims of this thesis are to develop a way of improving density, desirability and environmental performance of the suburban environment. It also aims to encourage an effective engagement with, integration into and connection to the natural environment. These aims are achieved by firstly establishing a case for environmental reintegration, understanding the benefits, requirements and visual theory so that it may be integrated effectively, secondly by researching and interrogating current systems from dense environments that improve efficiency through motion within buildings, establishing their context, intention and effectiveness, thirdly by designing and implementing a system that improves the spatial variety, environmental connection and efficiency through an iterative process, finally by testing the design in a comparative masterplan to an existing development and commenting on the success based on the established criteria.
Governing addiction: The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Court in New Zealand
Authors:   , Carr Toni
Published: December 2021

The New Zealand Alcohol and other Drug Treatment Court (AODTC) is an innovative approach to addressing offending by people with an alcohol or other drug addiction. Based on the United States Drug Treatment Court model, the AODTC aims to reduce reoffending, reduce addiction and support offenders’ health and wellbeing. Most studies of DTCs are quantitative and focus on recidivism rates and cost-effectiveness. There have been relatively few in-depth studies of how DTCs operate and even fewer that focus on the offender’s experience.  This thesis is a critical study of the Auckland and Waitakere AODTCs and is the first study of its kind in New Zealand. Conducted over seven months, the fieldwork involved 536 hours of observations, interviews with offenders and informal conversations with court workers, treatment providers and offenders’ families. The research also included extensive analysis of documents produced by and about the AODTC pilot and the US counterparts.  The research found that the AODTC operates in a largely unregulated problem-solving court zone. The wide discretion of judges and collaboration with community treatment providers, lauded by proponents of the AODTC as key to its therapeutic effectiveness, were found to create a number of significant harms for participants. In addition, the focus on addiction as a disease and abstinence as a goal and measure of progress invites judicial subjectivity and places considerable burdens on participants.  The research also found that the AODTC metes out punishment under the guise of treatment, preventing participants from accessing treatment and breach the principle of proportionality in their responses to offending and non-compliance. The competing goals of treatment and punishment also prevent participants from receiving adequate support in the AODTC programme. In particular, Māori, women, transgender, offenders with a coexisting disorder and brain injury are less likely to have access to the right treatment and proper support. These findings challenge the assumptions that the AODTC therapeutic mandate treats AOD related offending and supports offenders’ health and wellbeing. In order to protect AODTC offenders, a series of recommendations for change are made to constrain judicial involvement in treatment, to provide better options for community-based treatment and to ensure appropriate addiction treatment services.  Overall, the thesis provides valuable empirical insight into how the AODTC and the criminal justice system constitute AOD offending, addiction treatment policies, and manage the addicted offender to accomplish recovery. It also adds important data to the international pool of DTC ethnographies and problem-solving court literature, providing a point of focus from which to consider broader policy and evaluative criteria of people’s experiences of treatment in the problem-solving court. It is hoped that this research is able to contribute to law reform involving specialist problem solving courts in New Zealand.
Minimal mindreaders let spinning dogs lie: New evidence for the dual-process account of human mindreading
Authors:   , Edwards Katheryn
Published: December 2021

Five experiments investigated evidence for a dual-process account of mindreading (Apperly, 2010). This account is motivated by two puzzles: First, why is it that three-year-olds fail standard false-belief tests when looking patterns infer that infants are sensitive to others’ false beliefs? Secondly, why is adult mindreading sometimes slow and effortful, and at other times fast and effortless? The seemingly contradictory observations may be explained by drawing upon two relatively distinct mindreading abilities: ‘Efficient’ processing supports precocious infant performances in non-verbal tasks and fast-paced social interaction in adults, while the later developing ‘flexible’ processing permits full blown understanding of beliefs and facilitates correct verbal responding in standard false-belief tests. Evidence for this theory can be sought by exploiting the idea that there are ‘signature limits’ to the type of information that can be efficiently processed.  One conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking relate agents to objects, leading to the prediction that efficient processing cannot handle false-beliefs involving identity. Experiments 1 and 2 used a novel action-prediction paradigm to determine if adults’ reaction-time patterns differed between two false-belief tasks, one involving a standard change-of-location scenario, and one which also incorporated an identity component. The findings revealed equivalent flexible processing across both tasks. However, there were distinct reaction-time profiles between the tasks such that efficient belief-tracking was only observed in the change-of-location task. The absence of efficient processing in the task incorporating an identity component supports the conjecture that efficient belief-tracking is limited to relational, rather than propositional attitudes.  A second conjecture is that representations underpinning efficient belief-tracking either do not specify agents’ locations or do not specify objects’ orientations. This leads to the prediction that efficient belief-tracking alone will not yield expectations about agents’ perspectives. In a novel object-detection paradigm, Experiments 3 to 5 tested the extent to which adults efficiently tracked the belief of a passive bystander in two closely-matched but conceptually distinct tasks. In a task involving homogenous objects, reaction times were involuntarily influenced by the presence of the bystander. By contrast, in a second task in which the object could be differently perceived depending on where the agent was located in relation to that object, the presence of the agent did not influence adults’ response times, supporting the second conjecture.
Perceptions of Auditor Negligence: The Effects of Big Data Visualisations on Jurors’ Decisions
Authors:   , Christensen Travis
Published: December 2021

This study analyses the effects of Big Data visualisations on jurors’ decisions in audit litigation cases. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of different types of Big Data visualisations (word clouds or bar graphs) and different sources of Big Data (emails or social media posts) on jurors’ perceptions of auditors’ work and the size of the negligence awards that jurors recommend. The study theorises that the emotions elicited and the reliability of the data used to create visualisations such as word clouds will have dramatic effects on jury verdicts in audit negligence trials. There is considerable literature to support this assertion. However, after data collection, it was discovered that jurors are not influenced by the emotions elicited by visualisations. Rather, participants were very sceptical of more novel types of visualisations, such as word clouds, but could be persuaded by the inherent emotions elicited and the reliability of the data if they found the visualisation useful.
NAVIGATING THE ILLEGIBLE STATE: EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES OF STATELESSNESS AMONG SHAN YOUTH IN NORTHERN THAILAND
Authors:   , Cheva-Isarakul Janepicha
Published: December 2021

Home to more than half-a-million stateless persons, Thailand provides a unique case study for understanding modern-day statelessness. Since 2005, the country has significantly expanded the rights of non-citizen children to allow access for basic education, civil registration, universal birth registration and healthcare, but still restricts physical mobility of stateless persons to the provincial level and has made the level of education a criterion for citizenship. These new regimes of governing statelessness both marginalise and include stateless people in the formal state systems.  This thesis examines the complex dynamics between exclusion and inclusion that stateless Shan youth in northern Thailand experience in their everyday lives. Based on 13-months of ethnographic fieldwork over the course of three years (2015-2018) conducted in the wake of UNHCR’s Global Campaign to End Statelessness, this thesis describes how childhood statelessness in the 21st century is interpreted, determined and governed by the Thai state, and how stateless Shan youth make sense of the label of statelessness, make decisions about their future, challenge the idea of national identity and negotiate their place within the society that simultaneously includes and excludes them. I explore how, despite the Thai state’s public commitment to resolve statelessness in the past few years, the path toward Thai citizenship for many stateless youth is still fraught with various legal obstacles that tie together remnants of the legal and social exclusion from the past with a complex politics of proof in the present. In this thesis, I use the framework of “state illegibility” to capture the Thai state’s past and present opaqueness, inscrutable, contradictory and unpredictable bureaucratic practices, and demonstrate the burdens placed on stateless youth to “read” the state and navigate its opacity in their everyday life. Having learned the roles of documents and aesthetics in mediating membership, I demonstrate how Shan youth negotiate the impact of statelessness through various strategies such as using their bodies to perform “Thainess” and assert belonging, acquiring false documents, emphasising their Shan identity to get scholarships, and secretly obtaining Myanmar citizenship as an alternative option. Through these ethnographic accounts, I not only explore the effects of new regimes of governing statelessness, but also the way such regimes are adopted, manipulated, and enacted by the stateless youth to produce liveable futures for themselves.
Capital market effects of adoption of IFRS
Authors:   , Opare Solomon
Published: December 2021

This thesis examines the impact of adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) on two aspects of the operation of capital markets. Firstly, the impact of adoption of IFRS on financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and cost of capital. Secondly, the impact of adoption of IFRS on seasoned equity offering (SEO) underperformance.  To examine the impact of adoption of IFRS on financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and cost of capital, the study used meta-analysis of empirical studies published since 2000. Meta-analysis provides an objective view of the empirical results, in contrast to narrative reviews, which offer subjective conclusions. From meta-analysis of 55 empirical studies with 1,259 effect sizes, the study finds that IFRS adoption has increased financial reporting comparability, market liquidity, and reduced cost of equity. For cost of debt, a decrease is observed only for voluntary adoption. The meta-regression analysis shows how the results differ across mandatory and voluntary adoption of IFRS and that the measurement choices, type of control variables, study design, and strength of empirical results explain the variation in the observed effect of adoption of IFRS.  To examine the impact of adoption of IFRS on SEO underperformance the study analyses a large sample of SEOs from 51 countries over the period 1992-2017. Given that the empirical literature on SEOs has established that information asymmetry contributes to SEO underperformance, it is important to assess whether adoption of IFRS has reduced the uncertainties surrounding SEOs and, thus, subsequent underperformance. The study employs a control sample of non-IFRS adoption countries and applies a difference-in-difference (DiD) design to test for the incremental change for IFRS adoption countries over non-IFRS adoption countries. The study finds that SEO underperformance reduces for IFRS adopters relative to non-IFRS adopters in the post-adoption period. The reduction in SEO underperformance is influenced by increased disclosure, increased comparability, and number of accounting changes. The study also finds that the impact of adoption of IFRS on SEO underperformance exists only for firms in countries with strong enforcement, and is conditional on the implementation credibility of countries. The findings are robust to the application of a different measure of SEO underperformance.  Overall, the study suggests that IFRS has had a positive impact on capital markets. However, increased disclosure, comparability, and credible implementation play important roles in realising the benefits of adoption of IFRS. Thus, policymakers of weak enforcement countries are encouraged to strengthen their institutional environment in order to reap the benefits that adoption of IFRS can provide to their capital market.
Indo-Fijian Fishing Communities: Relationships with Taukei in Coastal Fisheries
Authors:   , Reddy Chinnamma
Published: December 2021

In the Pacific, customary marine tenure-ship and management has been practised for centuries. Community based marine resource management (CBMRM) initiatives have seen governments, local communities and non-government organisations adopt various management tools to improve coastal fisheries. Despite these efforts, there are growing concerns over the decline of fisheries resources and the subsequent social-ecological problems that affect coastal communities.  In the last three decades, Fiji, has implemented various forms of CBMRM initiatives with varying social-ecological successes. Marine management and conservation efforts across the 410 qoliqoli areas (fishing grounds) are predominantly driven by Indigenous Taukei communities and non-government conservation organisations (NGOs). Over the past two years local communities, NGOs, and government have led and supported new management efforts to improve fisheries sustainability in the country.  Non-Indigenous resource users are limited by social and political policies to access and participate in coastal resource management. Fijians of Indian descent (Indo-Fijians) represent the second-largest ethnic group in Fiji and are engaged in both subsistence and artisanal fisheries. Their involvement and participation within the broader socio- economic and socio-political aspects of coastal fisheries is considerable, however, remains hidden. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores the issues, challenges, and opportunities that Indo-Fijian communities experience in the coastal fisheries sector in Ba Province, Fiji.  Findings from the research illustrate the informal yet complex nature of socio-economic and socio-cultural community relationships between customary Taukei qoliqoli owners and Indo-Fijian people. The role of Indo-Fijian women within the coastal fisheries sector is notable. The success of contemporary CBRMN in Fiji is dependent upon a re- imagined, re-adapted, diverse approach. Most importantly, this research provides an opportunity to foster discussion within contemporary community based marine management and conservation efforts currently in place by customary Taukei qoliqoli owners, conservation organisations and the government.
Planting Seeds: For a Food Secure Future
Authors:   , Parsot Anesha
Published: December 2021

Food insecurity affects a large number of young New Zealanders every day. It is associated with low-income families and exists when people do not have access to enough healthy food, experience hunger, consume less nutritious foods due to limited options or rely on food relief and banks (Dastgheib). In New Zealand, there is a rising concern for food insecurity among adolescents. In 2012, 11% of young people reported food insecurity often or always, with 33% reporting food insecurity concerns occasionally (this being a 3% and 5% increase from 2007) (Utter, Izumi and Denny). Other issues are the increasing rates of obesity and other health concerns. (Stevenson, Growing Healthy Communities 37). The New Zealand population has one of the highest levels of obesity in the world, and this is a reflection of food insecurity and poverty (Thomas and Hunt). When families are food insecure, they are more likely to turn to the ease and affordability of fast food and highly processed food for their meals (Utter, Izumi and Denny). However, a diet based on fast-food has a low nutritious value and may generate a vicious cycle of obesity. An unhealthy meal reduces the amount of energy and motivation someone has (Cespedes). When adolescents consume a high level of fast food, the motivation to work is decreased, leading to lower grades, suspension and unemployment later in life (Government of South Australia; Gorton 3). In addition to this, their health and wellbeing are threatened, and medical bills can rise significantly producing a cycle of poverty (Todd). This research proposal will try to break the cycle of food security and poverty by providing families with an alternative choice to fast-food and takeaways. A pavilion is designed for Otara, Auckland, which combines the programme of a church, greenhouse and a community kitchen to encourage a healthy lifestyle. It will be located near Ferguson Intermediate and provide the facilities and environment to help individuals overcome food insecurity in their households.
Preference, Passing and Fresh Perspectives: Text Selection by Secondary School English Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors:   , Hughson Taylor
Published: December 2021

The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and the national secondary school qualification, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), afford teachers an enormous degree of autonomy over what they teach in their classrooms. This is in line with international trends in curriculum design which shape curricula around generic, open-ended learning outcomes rather than specific content. However, as of yet there is very little research either in New Zealand or internationally into the ways teachers make decisions about what to teach within an environment of great curricular freedom. Accordingly, this thesis investigates how high school English teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand make decisions about which written texts to teach within the context of current curriculum and assessment frameworks. It conducts this investigation from what will be called a modified social realist perspective. This theoretical perspective adapts the classic social realism promoted in the work of Michael Young and others, in order to develop a version of social realism which has explanatory power for humanities subjects, and subject English in particular.  The thesis moves through three main sections: context, theory and findings. The first section details the context in which this study is located, with a focus on how the New Zealand Curriculum and NCEA are clear examples of what will be called the New Curriculum: a movement in curricular reform which advocates for the removal prescribed content and positions the teacher as a curriculum maker, rather than a curriculum implementer. This section also includes a literature review. The second section outlines the theoretical position of this thesis. It shows how classic social realism struggles to account for both the non-abstract and subjective nature of literary experience, and moves from this to advance a ‘modified social realism’ which incorporates these features of literary experience into its model. The methodology of the study is also included here. Finally, the third section outlines the study’s findings. It is shown that given the freedom to choose their own texts, teachers make decisions based on, in order of importance, students’ interests, the likelihood of a text succeeding in NCEA assessments, and whether the text will expose students to important perspectives and ideas. This thesis argues that such priorities are problematic, as, from a modified social realist perspective, focusing on student interests and assessment success can limit opportunities for students to be exposed to truly transformative literature. This thesis therefore ends by suggesting three potential reforms which would allow students to encounter such literature more frequently, including enhanced professional development, and a curriculum document with clearer guidelines around the types of texts that students should encounter.
New Zealand Young Adult Fiction: National Myths, Identity and Coming-of-age
Authors:   , Manker Tina
Published: December 2021

Tara, the 17-year-old narrator of Dear Vincent by Mandy Hager, struggles in the relationship with her mother and learns about her family’s past on a trip to Ireland. She must decide whether she follows in the footsteps of her sister who died by suicide or whether she chooses life for herself and what her life will look like. Whiti Hereaka’s Bugs follows the development of Bugs, who turns 17 about half-way through the novel. She faces low expectations and institutional discrimination at school and must make decisions about her future. While Bugs chooses to stay; her personal growth is like that of Tara who leaves. In Kate De Goldi’s The 10PM Question, we engage with 12-year-old Frankie, who struggles with anxiety and a permanently house-bound mother. Like the protagonists of the other novels, Frankie must determine who he is by forming his first strong friendship with a teenager of the opposite sex and by questioning the adults around him. He, too, must make decisions which contradict the actions of his family. All three, Tara, Bugs and Frankie, are supported in this process by friends and extended family, and, as we will see, these characters come to play crucial roles in each protagonist’s identity formation.  What this thesis shows is that their stories are both universal and local. All three novels include common elements of Young Adult fiction about identity formation and coming-of-age and they are firmly located in New Zealand by way of incorporating uniquely New Zealand national myths. These myths shape our collective identities and adolescence is a time when teenagers form theirs. It is during this time that they explicitly notice and, at times, question the myths that they have been raised to believe in. This thesis is concerned with Overseas Experience (OE) as a way to develop one’s sense of self and broadening one’s horizons, the egalitarian myth or the belief that ‘we are all equal here’, and the ‘she’ll be right’ myth, the assumption that things will somehow right themselves. It seeks to explore what these novels suggest about the three different national myths of New Zealand and their role in identity formation. It will also discuss whether different views are presented.