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: Overseas investment through legal, policy and comparative law lenses: An examination of New ‎Zealand’s approach to protecting sensitive land and the interests of future generations including ‎comparisons with Canada and Kuwait

authors: Williamson, Myra Elsie Jane Bell

abstract: The current entity is the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), which is a regulatory unit within Land Information New Zealand (a government department). The OIO is engaged with “realising the benefits of overseas investment, while protecting New Zealand’s sensitive land and assets”, which is a difficult balancing act. The Act states that it is a privilege for overseas persons to own or control sensitive New Zealand assets. New Zealand is a great place to “do business” – currently it’s ranked the best in the world. It’s also a great place in which to invest and New Zealand encourages overseas investment so long as there is a “benefit to New Zealand”. That means, any overseas person wishing to buy sensitive land or business assets must demonstrate that their investment will, or is likely to, benefit New Zealand (or any part of it, or a group of New Zealanders). If the land is over five hectares, then the benefits must be substantial and identifiable. Decision-makers take into account 21 economic, environmental and cultural factors when deciding if the overseas investor passes that test. This test is “unique among global investment screening regimes. Its closest comparator is Canada’s ‘net benefit’ test, but that focuses on economic factors”. This paper will proceed on the assumption that-in accordance with the principles and purposes of comparative law-every legal system has something to learn from every other system; knowing how other legal systems have tackled an issue can inform national lawmaking since virtually all legal systems face the same problems.9 For international scholars with an interest in overseas investment law, the paper will provide an overview of New Zealand’s unique approach. The paper will discuss what is meant by “benefit to New Zealand”, a crucial test that any potential “overseas person” must satisfy.10 The paper will also discuss the recent changes to the meaning of “sensitive land” which now includes all residential land, significant business assets and fishing quota. In a nutshell, overseas persons (or associates of overseas persons) now need prior consent from the OIO before they can purchase sensitive land or business assets. The paper will explain key legislative provisions and some recent court decisions11 one of which resulted in an order for an overseas person to divest itself of its entire interest in two properties for failure to obtain consent before purchasing, in addition to a substantial civil penalty.12 Interestingly, getting prior legal advice provides no protection from the OIO’s powers. The overall purpose of this paper is to explain how one jurisdiction (New Zealand) is managing overseas investment and how it seeks to achieve a balance between the benefits and risks.

text: Overseas investment through legal, policy and comparative law lenses: An examination of New ‎Zealand’s approach to protecting sensitive land and the interests of future generations including ‎comparisons with Canada and Kuwait The current entity is the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), which is a regulatory unit within Land Information New Zealand (a government department). The OIO is engaged with “realising the benefits of overseas investment, while protecting New Zealand’s sensitive land and assets”, which is a difficult balancing act. The Act states that it is a privilege for overseas persons to own or control sensitive New Zealand assets. New Zealand is a great place to “do business” – currently it’s ranked the best in the world. It’s also a great place in which to invest and New Zealand encourages overseas investment so long as there is a “benefit to New Zealand”. That means, any overseas person wishing to buy sensitive land or business assets must demonstrate that their investment will, or is likely to, benefit New Zealand (or any part of it, or a group of New Zealanders). If the land is over five hectares, then the benefits must be substantial and identifiable. Decision-makers take into account 21 economic, environmental and cultural factors when deciding if the overseas investor passes that test. This test is “unique among global investment screening regimes. Its closest comparator is Canada’s ‘net benefit’ test, but that focuses on economic factors”. This paper will proceed on the assumption that-in accordance with the principles and purposes of comparative law-every legal system has something to learn from every other system; knowing how other legal systems have tackled an issue can inform national lawmaking since virtually all legal systems face the same problems.9 For international scholars with an interest in overseas investment law, the paper will provide an overview of New Zealand’s unique approach. The paper will discuss what is meant by “benefit to New Zealand”, a crucial test that any potential “overseas person” must satisfy.10 The paper will also discuss the recent changes to the meaning of “sensitive land” which now includes all residential land, significant business assets and fishing quota. In a nutshell, overseas persons (or associates of overseas persons) now need prior consent from the OIO before they can purchase sensitive land or business assets. The paper will explain key legislative provisions and some recent court decisions11 one of which resulted in an order for an overseas person to divest itself of its entire interest in two properties for failure to obtain consent before purchasing, in addition to a substantial civil penalty.12 Interestingly, getting prior legal advice provides no protection from the OIO’s powers. The overall purpose of this paper is to explain how one jurisdiction (New Zealand) is managing overseas investment and how it seeks to achieve a balance between the benefits and risks.

year: 2020

title: Inter-propositional semantic relations and semantic relational encoding in written discourse in Maori: an investigation

authors: Houia, Waldo

subjects: Maori

abstract: This thesis is an investigation of the various ways in which relationships of meaning between propositions (such as reason-result and temporal overlap) are encoded (as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences) and signalled in Maori.
In Chapter 1, the overall research topic and research questions are outlined.
Chapter 2 locates the research on inter-propositional semantic relations with reference to the concept of cohesion which is central to inter-propositional relational signalling and encoding. Here, reference is made to a number of relevant publications in the area.
Chapter 3 provides an introductory examination of the role of cohesion in the encoding and signalling of inter-propositional semantic relations in Maori.
Chapter 4 introduces a corpus of written texts and examines that corpus in terms of the ways in which inter-propositional semantic relations are encoded.
Chapter 5 examines a number of textbooks designed for learners of both English and Maori in terms of the extent to which they draw upon insights relating to the operation of inter-propositional semantic relations.
In Chapter 6, the research findings are summarised and their implications for aspects of the teaching and learning of Maori are discussed. In addition, suggestions are made in relation to future research possibilities.
Overall, the conclusion reached is that the study of semantic relational encoding and signalling in Maori texts reveals a number of aspects of language that appear not to be commonly taught and suggests the need for further studies of this type.

text: Inter-propositional semantic relations and semantic relational encoding in written discourse in Maori: an investigation This thesis is an investigation of the various ways in which relationships of meaning between propositions (such as reason-result and temporal overlap) are encoded (as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences) and signalled in Maori.
In Chapter 1, the overall research topic and research questions are outlined.
Chapter 2 locates the research on inter-propositional semantic relations with reference to the concept of cohesion which is central to inter-propositional relational signalling and encoding. Here, reference is made to a number of relevant publications in the area.
Chapter 3 provides an introductory examination of the role of cohesion in the encoding and signalling of inter-propositional semantic relations in Maori.
Chapter 4 introduces a corpus of written texts and examines that corpus in terms of the ways in which inter-propositional semantic relations are encoded.
Chapter 5 examines a number of textbooks designed for learners of both English and Maori in terms of the extent to which they draw upon insights relating to the operation of inter-propositional semantic relations.
In Chapter 6, the research findings are summarised and their implications for aspects of the teaching and learning of Maori are discussed. In addition, suggestions are made in relation to future research possibilities.
Overall, the conclusion reached is that the study of semantic relational encoding and signalling in Maori texts reveals a number of aspects of language that appear not to be commonly taught and suggests the need for further studies of this type.

year: 2001