title: Profiling micro-enterprises: The case of home-based businesses in New Zealand

authors: Clark, Delwyn N.

subjects: business indicators

abstract: Micro-enterprises represent significant proportions of small firms in most economies yet they are not routinely profiled or studied. This paper examines business processes and activities of micro home-based businesses (HBB) from an empirical study of 522 firms in New Zealand. Key findings profile the microscopic scale of HBB and their flexibility in operating both at and away from home. The importance of sources of finance, marketing activities, relationships, and business indicators for HBB are evaluated. Aspirations for growth were very high, with HBB reporting personal factors as the most important resources for growth, followed by functional business activities and expertise. Furthermore, high levels of GST registration and international business activities indicate that many HBB are quite business savvy

text: Profiling micro-enterprises: The case of home-based businesses in New Zealand Micro-enterprises represent significant proportions of small firms in most economies yet they are not routinely profiled or studied. This paper examines business processes and activities of micro home-based businesses (HBB) from an empirical study of 522 firms in New Zealand. Key findings profile the microscopic scale of HBB and their flexibility in operating both at and away from home. The importance of sources of finance, marketing activities, relationships, and business indicators for HBB are evaluated. Aspirations for growth were very high, with HBB reporting personal factors as the most important resources for growth, followed by functional business activities and expertise. Furthermore, high levels of GST registration and international business activities indicate that many HBB are quite business savvy

year: 2012

title: Stratigraphy, chronology, and correlation of the Plio-Pleistocene (c. 2.2-0.8 Ma) Kauroa Ash sequence, western central North Island, New Zealand

authors: Horrocks, Joanna L.

abstract: The Kauroa Ash beds (K-beds) comprise a 12-20 m-thick sequence of extremely weathered, clay-rich (40-95% <4 μm clay) beds of tephra and loess, and associated paleosols. Found in isolated remnants throughout the western central North Island, the sequence comprises 15 defined members, with as many as 44 constituent macroscopic beds. The type site, ‘Woodstock’, near Raglan, is the most comprehensive sequence known, but other sites (e.g. Papakura Creek and Tiritirimatangi Peninsula) contain units not found or poorly defined at Woodstock. 

Field properties as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements and particle-size analysis characterise the facies in the sequence. Field properties (in particular colour, consistence, macrofabric) describe the lithostratigraphy. The sequence contains five interpretive (i.e. genetic) ‘facies’: paleosols, primary tephra, very weathered tephra (possibly composite beds), loess and ‘tephric loess’ beds. At least seven loess beds are (newly) identified in the sequence: K4a, K5, K6ai, K8ai, K8bi, K10a and K14ai.

Mass-specific susceptibility and frequency-dependent susceptibility results partly conform to established models (developed mostly on Chinese loess-paleosol deposits) of susceptibility enhancement in paleosols and depletion in loess. Many parts of the sequence do not appear to conform to this model and the results more closely resemble the inverse relationship found on Alaskan loess-paleosol beds. Frequency-dependent susceptibility is reliable in delineating paleosols by their ‘ultrafine’ ferrimagnetic mineral content, and citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite treatments successfully remove all iron oxides so that remeasurement of susceptibility isolates a strictly ‘pedogenic’, rather than lithogenic, fraction. 

Laser diffraction particle-size analysis shows that the Kauroa Ash beds are texturally reasonably homogenous. They have bimodal particle-size distributions with the most dominant mode at around 11.25 ɸ inferred to be the product of intense and prolonged weathering. Other modes are variously centred on 7-8.5 ɸ and, despite weathering and pedogenesis, have some relationship to the original depositional particle-size distributions because trends between facies (i.e. genetic units) are delineated. Principal components analysis objectively characterises these modes as (Wentworth size classes) ‘very fine clay’ and ‘coarse silt’, although there is no proportional relationship between them, supporting a post-depositional origin for the former mode. 

The chronology of the sequence, previously poorly defined, is greatly improved by a combination of tephrochronologic correlations, fission-track dating, and paleomagnetism. Five zircon fission-track dates provide independent age ‘spikes’ and range from 2.24 ± 0.29 Ma in the basal member, K1, to 1.28 ± 0.11 Ma for the distal ignimbrite unit K12a. Paleomagnetism is invaluable in providing additional age information. The top of the sequence, member K15, is dated as >0.78 Ma (Brunhes-Matuyama boundary) because of its reversed polarity; two episodes of normal polarity are found in beds K14b and K2b and are inferred to represent the Jaramillo (1.07-0.99 Ma) and Olduvai (1.95-1.79 Ma) subchrons, respectively. Beds underlying the Kauroa Ash sequence are also of normal polarity, indicating that they were deposited in the Gauss Chron (>2.6 Ma). 

Identification and correlation of tephras by conventional means (fingerprinting by their lithological or geochemical properties) is impossible in the Kauroa Ash sequence because the beds have no remaining volcanic glass, which has instead been altered to an assemblage of authigenic phases (clays) by weathering and pedogenesis. However, a new technique analysing fresh glass found as melt inclusions in quartz grains is successful in circumventing this problem. Inclusions represent samples of non-degassed magma that became entrapped during phenocryst growth prior to eruption. The glass has remained unaltered because it is hermetically sealed in a chemically resistant phenocryst, which has protected it from weathering processes. Electron microprobe analysis of the glass inclusions yield results which are wholly reasonable for glass (totals ranging from 93-97%; low standard deviations of <1 %), and a number of provisional correlations are established by comparing the major element composition of Kauroa Ash tephra beds with those of proximal deposits. The Kauroa Ash sequence may contain deposits correlated with at least seven major TVZ eruptions, in many cases expanding the known extent of the (distal) deposit and, for the first time answering the question as to the origin of the Kauroa Ash beds. 

These correlations, together with an improved chronology, enable the Kauroa Ash sequence to be placed in a regional stratigraphic framework alongside other New Zealand Plio-Pleistocene sequences such as those in the Wanganui Basin, Wairarapa, Cape Kidnappers and Port Waikato. Using paleosols as chrono- and climatostratigraphic entities (correlated to warm periods in global climate), the sequence can also be placed alongside a global reference, the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy. A further correlation to the Chinese loess-paleosol record suggests that large parts of the Kauroa Ash sequence were deposited in an incremental manner akin to deposition of loess, so that the sequence is not only a record of TVZ volcanism, but also of Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate.

text: Stratigraphy, chronology, and correlation of the Plio-Pleistocene (c. 2.2-0.8 Ma) Kauroa Ash sequence, western central North Island, New Zealand The Kauroa Ash beds (K-beds) comprise a 12-20 m-thick sequence of extremely weathered, clay-rich (40-95% <4 μm clay) beds of tephra and loess, and associated paleosols. Found in isolated remnants throughout the western central North Island, the sequence comprises 15 defined members, with as many as 44 constituent macroscopic beds. The type site, ‘Woodstock’, near Raglan, is the most comprehensive sequence known, but other sites (e.g. Papakura Creek and Tiritirimatangi Peninsula) contain units not found or poorly defined at Woodstock. 

Field properties as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements and particle-size analysis characterise the facies in the sequence. Field properties (in particular colour, consistence, macrofabric) describe the lithostratigraphy. The sequence contains five interpretive (i.e. genetic) ‘facies’: paleosols, primary tephra, very weathered tephra (possibly composite beds), loess and ‘tephric loess’ beds. At least seven loess beds are (newly) identified in the sequence: K4a, K5, K6ai, K8ai, K8bi, K10a and K14ai.

Mass-specific susceptibility and frequency-dependent susceptibility results partly conform to established models (developed mostly on Chinese loess-paleosol deposits) of susceptibility enhancement in paleosols and depletion in loess. Many parts of the sequence do not appear to conform to this model and the results more closely resemble the inverse relationship found on Alaskan loess-paleosol beds. Frequency-dependent susceptibility is reliable in delineating paleosols by their ‘ultrafine’ ferrimagnetic mineral content, and citrate-bicarbonate-dithionite treatments successfully remove all iron oxides so that remeasurement of susceptibility isolates a strictly ‘pedogenic’, rather than lithogenic, fraction. 

Laser diffraction particle-size analysis shows that the Kauroa Ash beds are texturally reasonably homogenous. They have bimodal particle-size distributions with the most dominant mode at around 11.25 ɸ inferred to be the product of intense and prolonged weathering. Other modes are variously centred on 7-8.5 ɸ and, despite weathering and pedogenesis, have some relationship to the original depositional particle-size distributions because trends between facies (i.e. genetic units) are delineated. Principal components analysis objectively characterises these modes as (Wentworth size classes) ‘very fine clay’ and ‘coarse silt’, although there is no proportional relationship between them, supporting a post-depositional origin for the former mode. 

The chronology of the sequence, previously poorly defined, is greatly improved by a combination of tephrochronologic correlations, fission-track dating, and paleomagnetism. Five zircon fission-track dates provide independent age ‘spikes’ and range from 2.24 ± 0.29 Ma in the basal member, K1, to 1.28 ± 0.11 Ma for the distal ignimbrite unit K12a. Paleomagnetism is invaluable in providing additional age information. The top of the sequence, member K15, is dated as >0.78 Ma (Brunhes-Matuyama boundary) because of its reversed polarity; two episodes of normal polarity are found in beds K14b and K2b and are inferred to represent the Jaramillo (1.07-0.99 Ma) and Olduvai (1.95-1.79 Ma) subchrons, respectively. Beds underlying the Kauroa Ash sequence are also of normal polarity, indicating that they were deposited in the Gauss Chron (>2.6 Ma). 

Identification and correlation of tephras by conventional means (fingerprinting by their lithological or geochemical properties) is impossible in the Kauroa Ash sequence because the beds have no remaining volcanic glass, which has instead been altered to an assemblage of authigenic phases (clays) by weathering and pedogenesis. However, a new technique analysing fresh glass found as melt inclusions in quartz grains is successful in circumventing this problem. Inclusions represent samples of non-degassed magma that became entrapped during phenocryst growth prior to eruption. The glass has remained unaltered because it is hermetically sealed in a chemically resistant phenocryst, which has protected it from weathering processes. Electron microprobe analysis of the glass inclusions yield results which are wholly reasonable for glass (totals ranging from 93-97%; low standard deviations of <1 %), and a number of provisional correlations are established by comparing the major element composition of Kauroa Ash tephra beds with those of proximal deposits. The Kauroa Ash sequence may contain deposits correlated with at least seven major TVZ eruptions, in many cases expanding the known extent of the (distal) deposit and, for the first time answering the question as to the origin of the Kauroa Ash beds. 

These correlations, together with an improved chronology, enable the Kauroa Ash sequence to be placed in a regional stratigraphic framework alongside other New Zealand Plio-Pleistocene sequences such as those in the Wanganui Basin, Wairarapa, Cape Kidnappers and Port Waikato. Using paleosols as chrono- and climatostratigraphic entities (correlated to warm periods in global climate), the sequence can also be placed alongside a global reference, the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy. A further correlation to the Chinese loess-paleosol record suggests that large parts of the Kauroa Ash sequence were deposited in an incremental manner akin to deposition of loess, so that the sequence is not only a record of TVZ volcanism, but also of Plio-Pleistocene paleoclimate.

year: 2000

title: Death and homelessness on the streets of Aotearoa New Zealand: Sustaining life

authors: Charvin-Fabre, Sandrine

abstract: In high-income countries, homeless people die 20 to 35 years earlier than domiciled populations. Despite this enduring reality, the issue of death inequality remains underexplored, especially in indigenous homeless contexts, facing the ongoing effects of colonisation. This study centres on the perspectives and aspirations of a Māori street homeless community, known as the “Peeps”. Its objective is twofold: to spotlight to unjust, untimely, and avoidable mortality impacting homeless communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to understand how life can be sustained against the adversity of street life. The thesis diverges from conventional public health approaches, which often dichotomise early deaths prevention through improved healthcare access during homelessness, and palliative care provision at the end of life of homeless people. This thesis explores “the temporal space of life prior to death”. Within that temporal realm, the omnipresent “risk of dying” that infiltrates the lives of homeless people, disrupting the linear progression toward death observed in domiciled populations, is recognised. This temporal space is understood as a zone of uncertainty and potentiality, wherein complex life-death dynamics operate, revealing broader political, societal and cultural tensions. This study encountered significant challenges, including the dearth of prior death-related research in Māori homeless contexts, and my non-Māori identity. In response, an indeterminate approach, rooted in relational ethics and complexity and systems thinking — aligned with Māori worldviews — was adopted.  

Part I of the thesis is conceptual and contextual. Part II invites the readers into the fragile “temporal space of life prior to death” and the cyclical research process. Cycle 1 focuses on understanding the local context of death inequality, through relational fieldwork and statistical analysis of coroners’ reports. This analysis uncovers a 30-year life expectancy disparity with domiciled populations, exacerbated by three-quarters of avoidable mortality, mainly due to chronic conditions and suicide. Subsequent cycles sustain relational fieldwork, using collaborative and critical performance ethnography. Cycle 2 reveals the Peeps’ resistance to access healthcare, rooted in experiences of transgenerational trauma and marginalisation of Māori beliefs and values in relation to death and dying within mainstream healthcare institutions. Collaboration with the Peeps leads to the co-creation of a drama, intended to initiate conversations with health professionals from the Peeps’ perspectives and aspirations, to improve the quality of care. This cycle also highlights the impact of disconnection processes with whānau (family, extended family) experienced by the Peeps. Progressing further, cycle 3 illuminates healing processes with whānau using Advance Care Planning, envisioned as a relational space, providing the Peeps with a sense of belonging, and spiritual continuity in the perspective of death and dying. 
 
In addition to shedding light on the profound death inequality that affect Māori homeless people, this thesis argues for homelessness to be recognised as “complex life-threatening conditions associated with serious-related health suffering”. Accordingly, the thesis advocates the shift toward comprehensive care, inclusive of a concurrent prevention and palliation approach over the course of homelessness, to mitigate its impact on the lives of Māori homeless people and enhance holistic wellbeing.

text: Death and homelessness on the streets of Aotearoa New Zealand: Sustaining life In high-income countries, homeless people die 20 to 35 years earlier than domiciled populations. Despite this enduring reality, the issue of death inequality remains underexplored, especially in indigenous homeless contexts, facing the ongoing effects of colonisation. This study centres on the perspectives and aspirations of a Māori street homeless community, known as the “Peeps”. Its objective is twofold: to spotlight to unjust, untimely, and avoidable mortality impacting homeless communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to understand how life can be sustained against the adversity of street life. The thesis diverges from conventional public health approaches, which often dichotomise early deaths prevention through improved healthcare access during homelessness, and palliative care provision at the end of life of homeless people. This thesis explores “the temporal space of life prior to death”. Within that temporal realm, the omnipresent “risk of dying” that infiltrates the lives of homeless people, disrupting the linear progression toward death observed in domiciled populations, is recognised. This temporal space is understood as a zone of uncertainty and potentiality, wherein complex life-death dynamics operate, revealing broader political, societal and cultural tensions. This study encountered significant challenges, including the dearth of prior death-related research in Māori homeless contexts, and my non-Māori identity. In response, an indeterminate approach, rooted in relational ethics and complexity and systems thinking — aligned with Māori worldviews — was adopted.  

Part I of the thesis is conceptual and contextual. Part II invites the readers into the fragile “temporal space of life prior to death” and the cyclical research process. Cycle 1 focuses on understanding the local context of death inequality, through relational fieldwork and statistical analysis of coroners’ reports. This analysis uncovers a 30-year life expectancy disparity with domiciled populations, exacerbated by three-quarters of avoidable mortality, mainly due to chronic conditions and suicide. Subsequent cycles sustain relational fieldwork, using collaborative and critical performance ethnography. Cycle 2 reveals the Peeps’ resistance to access healthcare, rooted in experiences of transgenerational trauma and marginalisation of Māori beliefs and values in relation to death and dying within mainstream healthcare institutions. Collaboration with the Peeps leads to the co-creation of a drama, intended to initiate conversations with health professionals from the Peeps’ perspectives and aspirations, to improve the quality of care. This cycle also highlights the impact of disconnection processes with whānau (family, extended family) experienced by the Peeps. Progressing further, cycle 3 illuminates healing processes with whānau using Advance Care Planning, envisioned as a relational space, providing the Peeps with a sense of belonging, and spiritual continuity in the perspective of death and dying. 
 
In addition to shedding light on the profound death inequality that affect Māori homeless people, this thesis argues for homelessness to be recognised as “complex life-threatening conditions associated with serious-related health suffering”. Accordingly, the thesis advocates the shift toward comprehensive care, inclusive of a concurrent prevention and palliation approach over the course of homelessness, to mitigate its impact on the lives of Māori homeless people and enhance holistic wellbeing.

year: 2024