title: Hidden hardship in Aotearoa: An explorative study of older adult hardship

authors: Jex-Blake, Rebecca Beryl

subjects: Older adult

abstract: Poverty remains one of the most urgent issues in modern times (Lister, 2004). One fifth of older New Zealanders report hardship (Ministry of Social Development 2018), yet little is known about the daily experience of living in hardship as an older adult New Zealander. Financial hardship in older adult populations is strongly associated with increased mental health concerns, limited social resources and deteriorating physical health. To exacerbate matters, New Zealand is an aging nation, a factor which leads to increased strain on services that are already under considerable pressure. The situation for this demographic can be compromised by limited savings, the need to care for grandchildren and escalating living costs, which means this demographic is more vulnerable. To examine older adult hardship in New Zealand, I undertook a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with four participants about the challenges of living in hardship as an older New Zealander. Specific challenges experienced by the participants in relationship to their hardship included self-perceived and externally perceived illegitimacy to receive help, and the requirement to portray themselves as valued members of society. Analysis revealed that the participants’ narratives reflected the challenge of interacting with the shame and stigma promoted by wider neoliberal social narratives about ageing and the poor. Agentive strategies actioned were tactics such as delegitimization of dependency, positive fatalism, humour, othering and withdrawal from society. These strategies result in the hiding and minimization of their experiences of hardship, which can perpetuate the issue of older adult hardship.

text: Hidden hardship in Aotearoa: An explorative study of older adult hardship Poverty remains one of the most urgent issues in modern times (Lister, 2004). One fifth of older New Zealanders report hardship (Ministry of Social Development 2018), yet little is known about the daily experience of living in hardship as an older adult New Zealander. Financial hardship in older adult populations is strongly associated with increased mental health concerns, limited social resources and deteriorating physical health. To exacerbate matters, New Zealand is an aging nation, a factor which leads to increased strain on services that are already under considerable pressure. The situation for this demographic can be compromised by limited savings, the need to care for grandchildren and escalating living costs, which means this demographic is more vulnerable. To examine older adult hardship in New Zealand, I undertook a qualitative study that involved in-depth interviews with four participants about the challenges of living in hardship as an older New Zealander. Specific challenges experienced by the participants in relationship to their hardship included self-perceived and externally perceived illegitimacy to receive help, and the requirement to portray themselves as valued members of society. Analysis revealed that the participants’ narratives reflected the challenge of interacting with the shame and stigma promoted by wider neoliberal social narratives about ageing and the poor. Agentive strategies actioned were tactics such as delegitimization of dependency, positive fatalism, humour, othering and withdrawal from society. These strategies result in the hiding and minimization of their experiences of hardship, which can perpetuate the issue of older adult hardship.

year: 2021

title: Bitcoin forks: What drives the branches?

authors: Conlon, Thomas

abstract: Despite frequent Blockchain splits stemming from Bitcoin, few studies have examined the determinants of Bitcoin fork returns. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between the returns of Bitcoin forks and a range of common risk factors, including Bitcoin, currency, network and equity-based factors. From a statistical perspective, we find consistent and significant associations between fork returns, their Bitcoin counterparts, and equity markets. Other common factors, such as the equity small-minus-big factor and changes in the Japanese Yen, are found to have occasional links with fork returns. From an economic perspective, Bitcoin returns are the predominant driver of fork returns, accounting for essentially all of the explained variation. These findings are confirmed using orthogonalised common factors and with an alternative methodology, quantile regression. This research broadens our understanding of Bitcoin forks, indicating that a change in blockchain protocol is insufficient to sever links with the Bitcoin parent.

text: Bitcoin forks: What drives the branches? Despite frequent Blockchain splits stemming from Bitcoin, few studies have examined the determinants of Bitcoin fork returns. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between the returns of Bitcoin forks and a range of common risk factors, including Bitcoin, currency, network and equity-based factors. From a statistical perspective, we find consistent and significant associations between fork returns, their Bitcoin counterparts, and equity markets. Other common factors, such as the equity small-minus-big factor and changes in the Japanese Yen, are found to have occasional links with fork returns. From an economic perspective, Bitcoin returns are the predominant driver of fork returns, accounting for essentially all of the explained variation. These findings are confirmed using orthogonalised common factors and with an alternative methodology, quantile regression. This research broadens our understanding of Bitcoin forks, indicating that a change in blockchain protocol is insufficient to sever links with the Bitcoin parent.

year: 2024

title: Looking at relationships between propositions in Maori language

authors: Houia, Waldo

subjects: Te reo Māori

abstract: This paper reports on an investigation into the various ways in which relationships of meaning, such as reason-result and temporal overlap, are encoded as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences in Māori. It also provides an indication of the relevance of this type of research to teachers and learners of Māori.

text: Looking at relationships between propositions in Maori language This paper reports on an investigation into the various ways in which relationships of meaning, such as reason-result and temporal overlap, are encoded as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences in Māori. It also provides an indication of the relevance of this type of research to teachers and learners of Māori.

year: 2001