bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Higher education institutions and regional growth: The case of New Zealand
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Apatov Eyal , Grimes Arthur
Published: April 2018

We examine the relationship between the presence of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and local growth, using a sample of 57 New Zealand Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) between 1986 and 2013. Our models include a large set of controls, including past growth. An innovation of our approach is that we include official population projections as a control to account for growth-related factors that were perceived at the time by policy makers, but are otherwise unobservable to the econometrician. Holding all else equal, we find that a greater university share of Equivalent Full Time Students (EFTS) to working-age population raises population and employment growth. At the means, a one percentage point increase in university EFTS share is associated with a 0.19 (0.14) percentage point increase in the annual average population (employment) growth rate. This relationship holds under all alternative specifications, including different HEI activity definitions, samples, and specifications. On the other hand, growth related to polytechnic activity was estimated less precisely, and is much smaller. While our results suggest a positive association between university activity and growth, we find no evidence for complementarities between HEI activity and several indicators of urbanisation and innovation, nor do we find evidence that HEI presence affected the industrial (sectoral) structure of the local economy.
Income or Consumption: Which Better Predicts Subjective Wellbeing?
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Carver Thomas , Grimes Arthur
Published: April 2018

The positive relationship between income and subjective wellbeing has been well documented. However, work assessing the relationship of alternative material wellbeing metrics to subjective wellbeing is limited. Consistent with the permanent income hypothesis, we find that a consumption measure out-performs income in predicting subjective wellbeing. When objective measures of consumption are combined with self-assessments of a households standard of living, income becomes insignificant altogether. We obtain our result utilising household-level data from Statistics New Zealands New Zealand General Social Survey which contains a measure of material wellbeing called the Economic Living Standard Index that combines measures of consumption flows and self-assessments of material wellbeing.
The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme de-link from Kyoto: impacts on banking and prices
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Kerr Suzi , Ormsby Judd
Published: April 2018

The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) presents an opportunity to compare the theory of linked emissions trading with practice. From 2009 until late 2012 New Zealand was linked to the Kyoto market and there was no indication that this link would be broken. In November 2012 the New Zealand government announced that it would not proceed with the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and future linking became uncertain. This de-link was confirmed by the government in December 2013 and it was announced that it would take effect from 31 May 2015. After this date overseas Kyoto units were no longer acceptable for surrender within the NZ ETS. We find that prices within the NZ ETS behaved as theory would predict. In a climate of certain linking, from 2011 when New Zealand began buying overseas units to surrender, New Zealand Unit (NZU) prices were roughly equal to Kyoto prices. Once the possibility of a future de-link emerged, NZU and Kyoto prices decoupled. NZU prices traded at a price reflecting their anticipated future scarcity  for New Zealand as a buyer of units this implies that NZUs traded at a higher price. In anticipation of the coming de-link NZ ETS participants banked (almost) all of their NZUs for future use and used cheap Kyoto units to meet (almost) all of their current obligations. The long delay between the announcement and implementation of de-linking led to a large bank of NZUs.
Intangible Investment and Firm Performance
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Chappell Nathan , Jaffe Adam
Published: April 2018

We combine survey and administrative data for about 13,000 firms from 2005 to 2013 to study the inter-relationships among firm characteristics, intangible investment and firm performance. We find that firm size is associated with higher intangible investment, while firm age, very low competition (captive market) and very high competition (many competitors, none dominant) are associated with lower intangible investment. Relating intangible investment to subsequent firm performance, we find that higher investment is associated with higher labour and capital input and higher revenue, relative to what would otherwise have been predicted. We also find that higher investment is associated with higher firm-reported employee and customer satisfaction, but is not associated with higher productivity or profitability. While we cannot estimate a causal model, the evidence suggests that intangible investment is associated with firm strategies related to growth and possibly to soft performance objectives, but not to productivity or profitability.
Yield to Change: Modelling the Land-use Response to Climate-Driven Changes in Pasture Production
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Timar Levente
Published: April 2018

In contrast to most economic drivers of land-use change, climate-related drivers display substantial geographic variation. Accounting for this spatial heterogeneity is important in simulations of the land-use response to climate change. I use a discrete choice model to estimate the relationship between pasture yields and rural land use. Land-use predictions from the model respond to climate change through its effects on pasture yields. This econometric model provides the foundation for the development of a new module of the Land Use in Rural New Zealand (LURNZ) model, the Yield Change Module. In addition to enabling simulations of overall land-use change under different climate scenarios, the module also draws on the estimation results to allocate land-use change spatially. I employ the Yield Change Module to perform illustrative mid-century and end-of-century simulations of land use in a climate scenario characterised by a high level of greenhouse gas emissions (RCP 8.5). Yield changes in this scenario lead to an expansion (by nearly 600,000 hectares) of dairy area and a fall (by over 800,000 hectares) of sheep-beef area by the end of the century. The implied rate of land-use change is modest relative to that observed in New Zealands recent past
Agricultural Emissions Mitigation in New Zealand: Answers to Questions from the Parliamentary Commisioner for the Environment
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

This paper explores how New Zealand should address agricultural greenhouse gas emissions: methane and nitrous oxide. The starting point is the internationally agreed-upon goal of limiting global warming to below two degrees, and New Zealands commitment to contribute its fair share to the international climate-change mitigation effort. The report focuses on the role of mitigating biological agricultural emissions within that, and how New Zealand could most cost-effectively mitigate its own emissions and contribute to the mitigation of agricultural emissions abroad. This paper complements a partner paper (Hollis et al 2015) that discusses the science relating to agricultural greenhouse gases.
Cows, Sheep and Science: A Scientific Perspective on Biological Emissions from Agriculture
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Hollis Michele , de Klein Cecile , Frame Dave , Harvey Mike , Manning Martin , Reisinger Andy , Kerr Suzi , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

Biological emissions from agriculture (methane and nitrous oxide) make up almost half New Zealands total greenhouse gas emissions, so their importance relative to carbon dioxide is of particular policy interest. Motu Economic and Public Policy Research brought together a group of New Zealand climate change and agriculture specialists to respond to questions posed by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on the science. The paper finds that the overriding need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is scientifically uncontentious. For the climate to stabilise, net carbon dioxide emissions must ultimately be cut to zero. There is debate about whether, when and how much action to take on other gases. Some scientists advocate a comprehensive multi-gas approach, arguing that will be more cost-effective. It may already be too late to limit warming to two degrees without mitigating agricultural greenhouse gases. Others advocate a focus on carbon dioxide or on all long-lived gases (including nitrous oxide), with concerted mitigation of methane (a short-lived gas) only once carbon dioxide emissions are falling sustainably towards zero. There is support for easy wins on all gases, but it is unclear how easy it is for New Zealand to reduce total nitrous oxide and methane emissions while maintaining production. The report summarises current and emerging options, and discusses methods to calculate methane and nitrous oxide emissions at the paddock, farm, regional and national scale. Finally, the report considers metrics used for comparison between gases, focusing on Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Global Temperture change Potential (GTP). The authors reached a consensus that the right value depends on the policy goal and could change substantially over time; and if the main policy goal is to cost-effectively limit global average warming to two degrees above pre-industrial levels, then the value of methane should be less than the GWP100 value of 28 until global carbon dioxide emissions have begun to decline steadily towards zero. There is no agreement beyond this on the best value to use; the arguments reflect judgments about politics, economics, and the intersection of policy and science.
Earnings Dynamics and Measurement Error in Matched Survey and Administrative Data
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Hyslop Dean , Townsend Wilbur
Published: April 2018

This paper analyses the measurement error and earnings dynamics of two sources of individuals' annual earnings from Statistics New Zealand's Survey of Family, Income and Employment (SoFIE) and administrative linked employer-employee data (LEED) earnings reported in the Integrated Database Infrastructure (IDI). First, SoFIE reported earnings are 2-4% lower than LEED earnings on average, and slightly more variable; while the difference between the two reported earnings accounts for 25-30% of the variance in either report. Second, we reject the joint hypothesis that SoFIE earnings are reported with classical measurement error and LEED earnings are recorded without error. We estimate that the statistical reliability of LEED measured earnings (0.87{0.91) is higher than that of SoFIE earnings (0.83{0.85). Third, the differences between SoFIE and LEED earnings are negatively correlated with both individuals' average (LEED) earnings over the sample period and their annual transitory deviations. These differences can be characterised longitudinally by both persistent and serially correlated transitory factors. Fourth, we formulate and estimate a model for SoFIE and LEED earnings, which includes dynamics for true earnings and for measurement errors in both SoFIE and LEED. Female earnings are more variable than males', due both to permanent and transitory effects, and transitory shocks are relatively stronger for women. Allowing for measurement error in LEED, we find no evidence of mean-reverting error in SoFIE. Fifth, the models imply measurement errors dominate the observed changes in male earnings, and account for large fractions of the changes in female earnings.
Employment misclassification in survey and administrative reports
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Hyslop Dean , Townsend Wilbur
Published: April 2018

This paper analyses measurement error in the classification of employment. We show that the true employment rate and time-invariant error rates can be identified, given access to two measures of employment with independent errors. Empirical identification requires at least two periods of data over which the employment rate varies. We estimate our model using matched survey and administrative data from Statistics New Zealands Integrated Data Infrastructure. We find that both measures have error, with the administrative data being substantially more accurate than the survey data. In both sources, false positives are much more likely than false negatives. Allowing for errors in both sources substantially affects estimated employment rates.
Whos Going Green? Decomposing the Change in Household Consumption Emissions 2006  2012
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Allan Corey , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

We update the analysis of Allan et al. (2015) and re-examine whether New Zealand households have become greener consumers using newly available data. We combine input-output data from 2006 and 2012 with detailed data on household consumption from the 2006 and 2012 Household Economic Surveys (HES) to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions embodied in household consumption. We confirm many of our previous findings; that emissions increase less than proportionately with expenditure, and that there is significant variation in expenditure elasticities across consumption categories. We test for a change in household emissions over time and decompose this change into improvements in production efficiency and changes in households. We find that average household emissions fell by 11% between 2006 and 2012. We attribute 1.7 percentage points of this decrease to changes in households, with the remaining 9.3 percentage points from changes in emissions intensities. The majority of the change due to households is a result of changes in household behaviour rather than a change in household characteristics. Emissions from household energy fell markedly between 2006 and 2012, driven by a reduction in the emissions intensity of electricity and a decrease in household electricity consumption.
Urban Productivity Estimation with Heterogeneous Prices and Labour
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Maré David
Published: April 2018

This study estimates differences in productivity (mfp) across New Zealand urban areas, with a focus on the size of Aucklands productivity premium. The estimates are based on analysis of firm-level data from Statistics New Zealands Longitudinal Business Database. The methods used in the paper overcome some of the biases that arise in standard approaches to spatial productivity estimation - biases arising from imperfect competition, spatial price variation, firm heterogeneity, and labour-sorting across cities. Ignoring these factors leads to biased estimates of the Aucklands relative productivity performance. The study also investigates industry differences in spatial productivity patterns.
Facilitating Carbon Offsets from Native Forests
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Carver Thomas , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

This note aims to help firms looking to offset their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Emissions reductions from native forestry sequestration are already recognised in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and it is shovel ready to generate native forest offsets. 10,000 Ha of post-1989 native forest land would sequester 65,000 tonnes of CO2-e annually on average over 50 years, and would be eligible to earn 65,000 NZUs per year under the ETS. Native forestry also has a wide range of associated environmental, cultural, social and economic co-benefits. It is certainly possible for more native afforestation to occur at present, and within the existing policy framework; however, challenges do still exist. These include: a lack of awareness; limited access to capital; the complexity of the ETS; policy uncertainty; and some specific policy settings. The New Zealand business community can play an important role in solving these problems. Businesses can help influence government policy and have the capital and capacity to play a facilitating role in the market.
More pensioners, less income inequality?
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Alimi Omoniyi , Maré David , Poot Jacques
Published: April 2018

As is the case in most developed countries, the population of New Zealand is ageing numerically and structurally. Population ageing can have important effects on the distribution of personal income within and between urban areas. The age structure of the population may affect the distribution of income through the life-cycle profile of earnings but also through the spatial-temporal distribution of income within the various age groups. By decomposing New Zealand census data from 1986 to 2013 by age and urban area, this chapter examines the effects of population ageing on spatial-temporal changes in the distribution of personal income to better understand urban area-level income inequality (measured by the Mean Log Deviation index). We focus explicitly on differences between metropolitan and non-metropolitan urban areas. New Zealand has experienced a significant increase in income inequality over the last few decades, but population ageing has slightly dampened this trend. Because metropolitan areas are ageing slower, the inequality-reducing effect of ageing has been less in these areas. However, this urban-size differential-ageing effect on inequality growth has been relatively small compared with the faster growth in intra-age group inequality in the metropolitan areas.
The Effect of Fibre Broadband on Student Learning
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Grimes Arthur , Townsend Wilbur
Published: April 2018

We estimate the impact of ultra-fast broadband on schools academic performance using a difference-in-difference study of a new fibre broadband network. We show that fibre broadband increases primary schools passing rates in standardised assessments by roughly one percentage point. Estimates are robust to alternative specifications, such as controlling for time-varying covariates. We find no evidence that gender, ethnic minorities or students enrolled in remote schools benefit disproportionately. However, we find some evidence of a larger benefit within schools that have a greater proportion of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds
Productivity and the Allocation of Skills
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Maré David , Le Trinh , Fabling Richard , Chappell Nathan
Published: April 2018

We use linked employer-employee data from 20042012, combined with individual qualifications data from 19942012, to study how graduates with different skills fare in the labour market in the six years after studying. We find that graduates experience improvements in earnings, and that they systematically move between jobs, industries and locations in a pattern that is consistent with their securing better job matches, particularly for high level STEM graduates. We then estimate joint production function and wage equations to see how the skill composition of a firms employees correlates with productivity, and compare this with how the skill composition correlates with its wage bill. Our results suggest that degree graduates make a growing positive contribution to production in the six years after graduation, with associated wage growth. There is variation in relative productivity and wages across groups of graduates that differ by field of study and level of qualification.
Evolution of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme: Linking
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Leining Catherine , Ormsby Judd , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) was conceived as New Zealands gateway to the international carbon market with two objectives: assisting New Zealand to meet its international climate change obligations and reducing domestic net emissions below business-as-usual levels. Underlying these objectives was the principle of least-cost compliance for both the New Zealand government and NZ ETS participants. Uniquely among ETS to date, from 2008 through mid-2015 the NZ ETS operated with buy-and-sell linkages to the Kyoto market that did not constrain domestic emissions and were used to set the domestic price. As international Kyoto unit prices plunged from 2011 onward, so did New Zealanders incentives to invest in higher-cost domestic mitigation. Instead, NZ ETS participants complied by purchasing large numbers of Kyoto units. In November 2012, the government announced it would take its post-2012 commitment under the UNFCCC, not the Kyoto Protocol. NZ ETS participants responded by surrendering low-cost Kyoto units and banking NZUs which were expected to remain usable in the longer term. In mid-2015, the NZ ETS delinked from the Kyoto market. Although the New Zealand government has explored bilateral ETS linkages, none has come to fruition to date. As of 2017, the NZ ETS operates as a stand-alone system with a substantial participant-held NZU bank as the legacy of past linking. The government now faces important decisions about the future of unit supply in the NZ ETS and linkages to international markets. This paper examines New Zealands experience with linking and de-linking its ETS to capture lessons that could be of value to policy makers in New Zealand and other countries. It finds that the considerable opportunities to a small ETS market from linking can be negated if the environmental, economic and political risks are not managed strategically. It also highlights some of the technical and political challenges of negotiating bilateral linking agreements. New Zealands future policy on ETS linking, and more generally support for international mitigation as part of our global contribution, should ensure the integrity of New Zealands contribution to global mitigation and support strategic domestic decarbonisation in the longer term.
Wages, Wellbeing and Location: Slaving Away in Sydney or Cruising on the Gold Coast
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Grimes Arthur , Ormsby Judd , Preston Kate
Published: April 2018

We analyse the relationships between subjective wellbeing (SWB), wages and internal migration. Our study addresses whether people make (revealed preference) location decisions based on SWB and/or wage prospects. We present both a theoretical intertemporal location choice model and empirical analyses using the Australian longitudinal HILDA dataset. Our theory predicts considerable heterogeneity in location choices for individuals at different life stages depending on their individual characteristics, including their rate of time preference. We find a significant and sustained uplift in SWB for migrants, which holds across a range of sub-samples. By contrast, wage responses are muted albeit with heterogeneity across groups. Our theory and results show that migration decisions are considered within a life-cycle context. The estimated pronounced upturn in SWB for migrants substantiates the usefulness of SWB both as a concept for policy-makers to target and for researchers to incorporate in their studies.
Migration and Gender: Who Gains and in Which Ways?
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Preston Kate , Grimes Arthur
Published: April 2018

Empirical studies have consistently documented that while married men tend to lead more prosperous careers after moving than before, migration tends to be disruptive for the careers of married women. However, there has been little exploration of the interaction of non-economic outcomes of migration by gender and relationship-status. We explore whether migration is followed by a change in subjective wellbeing (SWB), and how this experience differs by individuals of different gender and relationship-status. These results are compared to wage differences following migration. We further analyse how outcomes differ according to the motivation for moving, including motivations for moving of both partners in a couple relationship. Our empirical estimates use longitudinal data on internal migrants in the Australian HILDA dataset. We show that females have a stronger tendency than males to reach higher levels of SWB after moving, while males have a stronger tendency than females to increase their earnings. These gender differences are mostly not significant for single individuals, but become quite pronounced for couples. Differences tend to narrow, but do not disappear, once we account for motivations for moving of individuals and, where relevant, of their partner. In particular, those who move for work-related reasons experience higher wage incomes after moving, regardless of gender or relationship-status.
Modelling the potential impact of New Zealands freshwater reforms on land-based Greenhouse Gas emissions
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Daigneault Adam , Greenhalgh Suzi , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) establishes the need to set and manage water resources within limits. This report is the first national assessment of the indirect impacts of the NPS-FM on New Zealands greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The water quality improvement aspect of New Zealands freshwater reforms are expected to drive significant changes in land and water management across the country. Emissions benefits through the freshwater reforms could potentially result in significant savings for New Zealand by starting the transition to low emissions in the agricultural sector and helping to achieve New Zealands overall climate goals. For farmers, changes in land use and management to meet water quality targets will reduce their potential future exposure to needs to reduce GHG emissions. GHG emissions reductions are a combination of reduced emissions through changes in management and de-stocking and increased carbon sequestration associated with planting riparian buffers or afforesting part of the farm. Key results are that without land use change, agricultural GHGs (primarily methane and nitrous oxide) could be reduced by 2.4% or 0.82 million metric tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent per annum (MtCO2e/yr) along with an additional 0.11 MtCO2e of forest carbon sequestration as a result of planting riparian buffers and pole planting for erosion control (for a net reduction of 0.92 MtCO2e/yr or 13%). If afforestation is perceived to be a feasible freshwater mitigation option, up to 800 000 ha of additional trees could be planted, thereby increasing carbon sequestration by 5.4 MtCO2-e/yr. In this case gross (net) GHGs could be reduced by 2.9 (8.2) MtCO2e/yr, primarily through reduction in stock numbers and increases in forest carbon sequestration. This option could reduce net emissions by nearly 80%. The majority of the emissions impact occurs in the sheep and beef sector, with a gross (net) reduction of 0.61 (0.72) MtCO2e/yr. Nitrogen targets most strongly drive on-farm GHG reductions for all the modelled scenarios that limit mitigation to on-farm changes. This is primarily because actions to mitigate N are most closely related to practices that can also mitigate GHGs (e.g. stock management).
Including Forestry in an Emissions Trading Scheme: Lessons from New Zealand
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Carver Thomas , Dawson Patrick , Kerr Suzi
Published: April 2018

New Zealand is the first, and still the only, country to include forest landowners as full and, in some cases, mandatory participants in a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading scheme (ETS), the NZ ETS. Carbon sequestration by forestry continues to be an important part of New Zealands contribution to its global obligations to reduce emissions. This paper describes the policy changes to the NZ ETS since 2008 that directly affect forestry; assesses the effectiveness of the scheme; explores who is benefiting from it; and outlines issues facing forestry in the NZ ETS moving forward. We find that forest owners have responded to the financial incentives from the NZ ETS in a rational way. Both afforestation and deforestation decisions appear to have been influenced by the emissions price and/or expectations about the emissions price in the future. However, the scheme has been beset by challenges. The collapse in the global carbon price and, associated with this, the proliferation of international Kyoto credits of questionable environmental integrity, combined with the government decision to delay New Zealands delink from international markets until 2015, greatly reduced the price signal for forestry from the NZ ETS from 2012 to 2015. A weak price signal, coupled with ongoing policy uncertainty surrounding the NZ ETS, has limited the effectiveness of the scheme in achieving its forestry goals. Prospects going forward are more positive particularly if the current reform of the ETS can create clear predictable price signals and better manage the complexity of forestry rewards and liabilities, particularly as faced by smaller landowners who are not professional foresters but could potentially participate and reforest.
The longer term impacts of job displacement on labour market outcomes
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Hyslop Dean , Townsend Wilbur
Published: April 2018

This paper analyses the longer term impacts of involuntary job loss of workers subsequent employment, earnings, and income support in New Zealand. It uses data from the Survey of Family, Income and Employment (SoFIE) to identify job displacements over the period 200110, matched to administrative data from Statistics New Zealands Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) covering the period 19992015, to facilitate at least five years of post-displacement observations. Following Dixon and Maré (2013), our analysis focuses on workers who had been employed for at least one year before their job displacement. Using both regression-adjustment and propensity score matching methods, we estimate that experiencing a job displacement substantially affected workers employment, earnings and income over the following five years. Compared to workers who did not lose their jobs, we estimate their employment rate was 20-25% lower in the year following displacement and, although their employment gradually improved, was still 8-12% lower five years later. Similarly, we estimate displaced workers conditional earnings and total income were 25-30% lower in the first year and 13-22% lower five years after being displaced. Such adverse effects are partly counterbalanced by higher levels of welfare benefit receipt and income support: benefit receipt was 6-11% and 3-4% higher after one and five years. We also find that the impacts were stronger for workers displaced from jobs during the great recession from 2008, with about 5% larger short and longer-term effects on employment, which were balanced by 3-5% higher rates of benefit receipt.
Valuing Sunshine
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Fleming David , Grimes Arthur , Lebreton Laurent , Maré David C , Nunns Peter
Published: April 2018

Sunlight influences peoples real estate decisions, but city intensification may reduce sunlight exposure for neighbouring properties, causing a negative externality. There are hitherto no rigorous estimates of the cost of this externality. Using over 5,000 observations on house sales in Wellington, New Zealand, we derive the willingness to pay for an extra daily hour of sun, on average, across the year. After controlling for locational sorting and other considerations in an hedonic regression, we find that each extra daily hour of sunlight exposure is associated with a 2.4% increase in house sale price. This estimate is robust to a variety of alternative specifications. Our results can be used to price negative externalities caused by new development, so replacing inflexible regulations designed to address impacts of development on neighbours sunshine.
How political systems and social welfare policies affect well-being: A literature review
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, MacCulloch Robert
Published: April 2018

This chapter focusses on the question of how formal institutions, like those governing the level of freedom, the regulatory state, political parties and the generosity of the welfare state, affect self-reported well-being. The evidence suggests, for example, that more freedom, as well as government structures which encourage civic engagement, participation and trust, have positive effects. Many studies, however, use cross-sectional data with small sample sizes, often due to institutions being measured at the country level with limited variation over time. As a consequence, further work is needed to test robustness. Stronger results hold with respect to particular types of welfare state institutions, like unemployment benefits, which are subject to quite frequent changes within nations. Increases in unemployment benefits are associated with higher levels of well-being for all workers, probably due to greater income security. However, doubt still persists as to their overall impact, due to the extent to which well-being is adversely affected by the higher taxes needed to support a more generous welfare state.
Worker flows, entry, and productivity in New Zealands construction industry
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Jaffe Adam , Chappell Nathan
Published: April 2018

We use administrative data on the population of New Zealand construction firms from 2001-2012, along with linked data on their employees and working proprietors, to study the relationships among worker flows, entry, and firm productivity. We find that job churn is prevalent in construction, with around 60 percent of firm-worker pairs not existing previously or not existing subsequently. The data also show that firms gaining or losing any labour are more productive than static firms, and that firms gaining labour from other construction firms are 4-6 percent more productive than the industry average in a given year. Our analysis suggests such firms are productive in part because of knowledge flows from other construction firms; in our preferred specification, with firm fixed effects, a standard deviation increase in the productivity of new employees previous firms is associated with a 0.6 percent increase in productivity. New entrants are more productive than pre-existing firms. Firms that enter briefly and disappear exhibit high productivity for that brief period, and firms that enter and persist exhibit a persistent productivity advantage that averages about 5%, but which grows as experience accumulates. The entry and worker-knowledge-flow phenomena are distinct, in that the entry effect is not explained by employee composition, and non-entrant firms also benefit from worker knowledge flows.
How did removing student allowances for postgraduate study affect students choices?
Authors:   Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Sin Isabelle , Apatov Eyal , Maré David
Published: April 2018

From 1 January 2013, students in New Zealand who entered postgraduate qualifications other than Honours were no longer eligible to receive student allowances. We use individual-level administrative data that includes tertiary enrolment information, student allowance receipt, student loan borrowing, and wage earnings to investigate whether the policy affected students choices. We use a students allowance receipt as an undergraduate or her borrowing for course fees as a postgraduate to proxy for her counterfactual allowance eligibility. We use this proxy to compare allowance-eligible and allowance-ineligible students who enter an affected postgraduate qualification or an unaffected Honours degree. Although we are not able to cleanly estimate the causal effect of the policy, our results do not suggest that the policy affected the number or type of postgraduate entrants, their choice between part-time and full-time study, the amount of paid work they performed while studying, or their rates of dropping out. However, our results strongly suggest that students who became ineligible for allowances increased their student loan borrowing for living expenses.
Impact of Trade Credit on Sales Growth: An Empirical Study Based on Cement Sector of Pakistan
Authors: Aslam Muhammad , Hussain Rana Tanveer
Published: April 2018

Trade credit management is considered very important in the field of finance for most of the firms. This study throws light on the management of current assets and current liabilities in relation to the trade credit. Trade credit has been a growing source of finance of industrial sector in Pakistan. In this study, the main aim is to analyze the role of trade credit in upgradation of cement sector. To achieve this object, data was taken from the annual financial reports of 17 firms listed cement sector in Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The analyses have been carried out by using the data of 8 years, starting from year 2007 to 2014. Apparently not much work has been done to find out the success or failure of the business units selling cement on credit terms under market conditions prevailing in Pakistan. It was interesting to study the relation of trade credit and sales growth with respect to a developing nation like Pakistan. Panel data (fixed effect) model was used for the estimation of results decided on the basis of Hausman test. In addition to use of trade credit as independent variable, control variables (age, size and lagged sales growth) were also added in the model. Findings of the study show that trade credit has very significant positive affect on sales growth of the firms proclaiming the recommendation for the use of trade credit to enhance the revenues.
Investment and Cash Flow Sensitivity under Investment Opportunities: Evidence from Pakistani Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Khurshid Muhammad Kashif , Zahid Imtiaz , Khan Akmal
Published: April 2018

This paper examines the relationship between cash flow and investment under high and low investment opportunities of 167 Pakistani non-financial manufacturing firms listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange during the period 2004-2013. Tobin’s Q is employed to capture the investment opportunities and sales are taken as control variable. A panel regression model is used to investigate the relationship of cash flow, Tobin’s Q and sales on investment. In case of high investment opportunities firms, the relationship of investment and cash flow is positive and significant while under low investment opportunities firms, this relationship is also positive but insignificant. These results indicate that the high opportunities firms rely mostly on internally generated cash flow whereas the low investment opportunities firms prefer to distribute its earnings as a dividend.
Potential of Livestock TAKAFUL in Pakistan: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Abbas Azhar , Akhter Waheed , Butt Mubeen , Ullah Raza , Iqbal M. Amjed
Published: April 2018

Livestock sector in Pakistan is among top countries in the production of animal and dairy product. The country has witnessed an increasing trend in milk production during the last 5 years particularly in Punjab province. There are numerous risks associated with livestock which threaten the viability of this important sector. Most important of these risks and uncertainties are natural disasters including flood, heavy rainfall, and earthquake etc. All these risks play important role in the productivity of livestock sector. Livestock insurance is one of the options to mitigate the potential impacts of such natural calamities. This study is designed to investigate the demand for livestock insurance in Punjab province of Pakistan. Three Tehsils from central Punjab namely Lahore, Kasur and Raiwind, were selected as universe of the study. A total of 250 dairy farmers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during January to March 2015. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used to assess the potential demand for livestock TAKAFUL (Islamic Insurance) in the study area. The results point to the significance of number of animals, ratio of farm income to household income, desire to increase herd strength and livestock farm quality in respondents’ willingness to pay for livestock TAKAFUL. The findings urged provision of Shariah compliant product for farmers and training in livestock management
Inflation Forecasting in SAARC Region using ARIMA Models
Authors: Habibah Ume , Bhutto Niaz Ahmed , Ghumro Niaz Hussain
Published: April 2018

The financial decision of economic individuals is sensitive to present and future forecasting rate of inflation. This study aims to forecast the inflation of four countries (India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and Bangladesh) in SAARC region. Data sample ranges from 1981 to 2016 with the objective to forecast the inflation for the next five years from 2017 to 2021, ARIMA (p,d,q) model is applied for the purpose of forecasting. Results show that inflation of each country will have the increasing trend the next five years from 2017 to 2021 but will remain less than the average inflation rate in the previous years (1981 to 2016) in all forecast economies of SAARC region.
Retail Trader’s Noise risk and closed-end fund pricing puzzle Investor Sentiment Model for Closed-end Equity Funds Pricing Puzzle an Empirical Study
Authors: Shahzad Raja
Published: April 2018

This empirical study investigates the rationale for the United States (US) closed-end equity fund discounts using investor sentiment approach of C. Lee, Shleifer, and Thaler (1991) for the period from 2004 to 2013. The result of this study suggests that discounts on closed-end equity funds decrease when small stocks return increase. The closed-end fund discounts have the significant stronger correlation with small capitalization as compared to large company’s stock returns. The results indicate that similar noise trading risk generated by retail traders explains the fluctuations in closed-end fund discounts and small capitalization equity returns even after controlling for fundamental factors. The results validated the existence of noise traders in market producing stochastic demand and supply based on their belief, subsequently affecting closed-end equity fund price in the market.
Negative Correlation Between Economic Structure of Rentier State and Non-Democratization (Case Study: Saudi Arabia)
Authors: Sarmadi Hamid , B Mortaza , A Hafez , S Sirous
Published: April 2018

The Saudi Arabia having patrimonial government politically system and unique nature of power structure that all political affairs set in Ale Saudi dynasty. Government system is traditional and dependent to person and persons of dynasty are absolute rulers and away from criticism and ruler willing prefer to law. Despite of authoritarian and monarchy system and non-democracy development in Saudi Arabia special now that kind of government system isn’t acceptable side of dominant discourse of global community, this country could rely on oil produce regarding to rentier state features have active representation in international communities and too in home sue achievement to legitimacy and vindication. the interests of state-building and to reinforce its legitimacy, which is hardly the act of a state free of interests. Saudi Arabia is also an archetypal example of a state that still faces influence from actors within the state and elite structures, i.e. princes, senior officials, and clerics, among others. In this article analysis rentier state effect on non-democracy development in case study of the Saudi Arabia and research claim is that in nature of relations between rentier state and non-democracy development exist negative correlation. Namely whatever government income dependent to oil export and state economic nature has been independent from peoples, will be decrease from democratic charge in political dimension. This country by oil produce and effect to world powers economies cause that be complex government structure under monarchy system and use endowment of oil rent. Now observe modern dictatorship that despite of economic and social reforms side if internal, regional and international pressures in general dimension of society, will be non-democratic politically structure.
Effect of continuous nursing intervention on psychological state and medication compliance of patients with acute myocardial infarction after PCI
Authors: Wei Dongyan
Published: April 2018

Objective: To explore the effect of continuous nursing intervention on psychological status and medication compliance of patients with acute myocardial infarction after PCI operation. Methods: from February 2013 to September 2016, 102 patients with acute myocardial infarction treated by PCI were selected and divided into two groups, 51 cases in each group according to the different nursing methods. The observation group was added continuous nursing on the basis of routine nursing, while the control groupwas the usual nursing mode. The mental state of the two groups before and after treatment was evaluated, and the patients were followed up for 6 months after discharge. The compliance of the two groups at 1, 3 and June after discharge was statistically analyzed. Results: before nursing, there was no signifcant difference in the mental state evaluation between the two groups (P > 0.05). After nursing, the mental status of the two groups was improved, while the psychological state of the observation group was better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). After 6 months' follow-up, there was no signifcant difference in the compliance rate between the two groups at 1 months after discharge (P > 0.05). In 3 and June, the compliance of the patients in the observation group was better than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: continuous nursing intervention for patients with acute myocardial infarction after PCI can effectively adjust the unhealthy psychological state of patients, improve medication compliance and promote early rehabilitation of patients.
Research and Application of Multi-Dimensional and ThreeDimensional Teaching in Geriatric Nursing Teaching in the Context of Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Authors: Mo Xiuxian
Published: April 2018

Purpose: Study the specific application effect of multi-dimensional and three-dimensional teaching in Geriatric Nursing teaching in the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. Methods: Respectively select 80 2015 nursing undergraduates and 80 2014 nursing undergraduates in our school as the research object of the experimental group and the control group. In terms of Geriatric Nursing teaching, nursing students in the control group adopt traditional classroom teaching methods to carry out, while students in the experimental group adopt multi-dimensional and three-dimensional teaching in the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. Then observe and compare the geriatric nursing knowledge scoring as well as theory and practice assessment results in the two groups taught with different methods. Results: It's obvious that the scoring of nursing students in the experimental group is higher than those in the control group in respect of geriatric nursing knowledge, and statistical significance exists in the between-group differences (P < 0.05). The nursing students in the experimental group perform obviously better than those in the control group in terms of the results of theory, practice and comprehensive assessment as well as total score, and statistical significance exists in the between-group differences (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Implementing Geriatric Nursing teaching for higher education nursing undergraduates with multi-dimensional and three-dimensional teaching in the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation can remarkably improve nursing students' cognitive level in geriatric nursing as well as their mastery degree of theoretical, practical and comprehensive knowledge. Thus, the multi-dimensional and three-dimensional teaching mode in the context of mass entrepreneurship and innovation makes 80 2015 nursing undergraduates in our school direct beneficiaries, which could be popularized and applied in medical colleges.