title: Time-varying risk premia in the term structure of interest rates in New Zealand

authors: Margaritis, Daimitri

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: An empirical analysis of the term structure of interest rates in New Zealand during the post-1985 financial liberalization period is presented. Particular emphasis is placed upon the effect of time-varying risk premia in the term structure equation. The risk premium is assumed to depend on the time-varying conditional variance of the excess holding yield. The results indicate that the expectations theory cannot be rejected at the short end of the term structure provided that account is taken of the volatility clustering in interest rate data. There is also support for the expectations theory in the term structure relationship between long-term and short-term interest rates. The results do not indicate excess over- or under-sensitivity of long rates to current short rates. Initial statistical evidence suggests that excess returns on long-term bonds can be explained by their lagged values and macroeconomic variables. However, this return predictability is removed once the effects of changing real and nominal uncertainty are accounted for in the term structure equation. The latter result suggests that a monetary policy of low and stable inflation can affect the risk characteristics of long-term bonds. The presence of varying real uncertainty in bond returns indicates that the slope of the yield curve may not be a reliable indicator for assessing inflationary pressures in the economy when compared to a situation where the variation in bond returns was solely driven by nominal uncertainty.

text: Time-varying risk premia in the term structure of interest rates in New Zealand An empirical analysis of the term structure of interest rates in New Zealand during the post-1985 financial liberalization period is presented. Particular emphasis is placed upon the effect of time-varying risk premia in the term structure equation. The risk premium is assumed to depend on the time-varying conditional variance of the excess holding yield. The results indicate that the expectations theory cannot be rejected at the short end of the term structure provided that account is taken of the volatility clustering in interest rate data. There is also support for the expectations theory in the term structure relationship between long-term and short-term interest rates. The results do not indicate excess over- or under-sensitivity of long rates to current short rates. Initial statistical evidence suggests that excess returns on long-term bonds can be explained by their lagged values and macroeconomic variables. However, this return predictability is removed once the effects of changing real and nominal uncertainty are accounted for in the term structure equation. The latter result suggests that a monetary policy of low and stable inflation can affect the risk characteristics of long-term bonds. The presence of varying real uncertainty in bond returns indicates that the slope of the yield curve may not be a reliable indicator for assessing inflationary pressures in the economy when compared to a situation where the variation in bond returns was solely driven by nominal uncertainty.

year: 1994

title: Child poverty and media advocacy in aotearoa

authors: Barnett, Alison Reremoana

subjects: child poverty

abstract: New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Research has shown that modern mass media provide a mediated cultural forum through which policy responses to child poverty are socially negotiated and from which public support for children in need is either cultivated or undermined. This thesis focuses on the role of media advocacy by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) who attempt to widen public debate and legitimate options for addressing child poverty. I investigate the case of the Government's Working for Families package and the controversy surrounding the media release of CPAG's negative evaluation of the package in the form of a research report Cut Price Kids. Attention is given to competing ideological frames underlying the Government's package, in the form of neo-liberal emphases on distinctions between  God's  and the  Devil's  poor. Attention is also given to CPAG's response, in the form of communitarian notions of collective responsibility for all families in need. Specifically, I analyse the role of the mass media in framing child poverty as a social issue across three levels of mass communication - production, representation, and reception. At the production level interviews were held with six journalists involved with reporting on Cut Price Kids and two members of CPAG. Fifteen Government and 5 CPAG press releases were also explored to document media production processes and restraints on public deliberations. In addition, the ideological stances influencing the framing of coverage were investigated. At the media representation level 21 press, seven radio, and five television items were analysed to establish the scope of public debate, whose perspectives were included, and the ways in which differing perspectives are combined. At the reception level four focus group discussions with lower socio-economic status (SES) parent groups, as well as follow-up photo-based interviews with eight participants were explored in order to document the role of media coverage in the lives of families with children living in poverty. Across levels, findings suggest that journalists are restrained by professional practices which maintain the importance of balance and detached objectivity, rather than interpretations of appropriate responses to child poverty. Tensions between the Government's emphasis on restricting support to families with parents in paid employment and CPAG's emphasis on the need to not discriminate against the children of out of work families framed coverage. The lower SES parents participating at the reception level challenged the restrained nature of coverage, which excluded people such as themselves, and openly questioned media characterisations of them as  bludgers  who are irresponsible parents. Overall, findings support the view that media are a key component of ongoing social dialogues through which public understandings of, and policy responses to, child poverty are constructed. Specifically, psychologists need to engage more with processes of symbolic power which shape the public construction of child poverty in a conservative manner that can lead to victim blaming, and restrains opportunities for addressing this pressing social concern.

text: Child poverty and media advocacy in aotearoa New Zealand has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Research has shown that modern mass media provide a mediated cultural forum through which policy responses to child poverty are socially negotiated and from which public support for children in need is either cultivated or undermined. This thesis focuses on the role of media advocacy by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) who attempt to widen public debate and legitimate options for addressing child poverty. I investigate the case of the Government's Working for Families package and the controversy surrounding the media release of CPAG's negative evaluation of the package in the form of a research report Cut Price Kids. Attention is given to competing ideological frames underlying the Government's package, in the form of neo-liberal emphases on distinctions between  God's  and the  Devil's  poor. Attention is also given to CPAG's response, in the form of communitarian notions of collective responsibility for all families in need. Specifically, I analyse the role of the mass media in framing child poverty as a social issue across three levels of mass communication - production, representation, and reception. At the production level interviews were held with six journalists involved with reporting on Cut Price Kids and two members of CPAG. Fifteen Government and 5 CPAG press releases were also explored to document media production processes and restraints on public deliberations. In addition, the ideological stances influencing the framing of coverage were investigated. At the media representation level 21 press, seven radio, and five television items were analysed to establish the scope of public debate, whose perspectives were included, and the ways in which differing perspectives are combined. At the reception level four focus group discussions with lower socio-economic status (SES) parent groups, as well as follow-up photo-based interviews with eight participants were explored in order to document the role of media coverage in the lives of families with children living in poverty. Across levels, findings suggest that journalists are restrained by professional practices which maintain the importance of balance and detached objectivity, rather than interpretations of appropriate responses to child poverty. Tensions between the Government's emphasis on restricting support to families with parents in paid employment and CPAG's emphasis on the need to not discriminate against the children of out of work families framed coverage. The lower SES parents participating at the reception level challenged the restrained nature of coverage, which excluded people such as themselves, and openly questioned media characterisations of them as  bludgers  who are irresponsible parents. Overall, findings support the view that media are a key component of ongoing social dialogues through which public understandings of, and policy responses to, child poverty are constructed. Specifically, psychologists need to engage more with processes of symbolic power which shape the public construction of child poverty in a conservative manner that can lead to victim blaming, and restrains opportunities for addressing this pressing social concern.

year: 2006

title: E kui Rāwinia

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

subjects: Waiata tangi

abstract: He waiata tangi tēnei mō Rāwinia Te Kani he uri nō Te Whakatōhea.  I whānau mai a Rāwinia ki roto o Ngāti Rua he hapū nō Te Whakatōhea, i pakeke mai ia ki roto o Ngāti Rua ki Ōmarumutu, ā, i kuraina ia ki reira.  He wahine rongonui a Rāwinia ki roto o Tūranga i moe ia i a Tokorua Te Kani he ariki nō roto o Tūranga.  Hoi anō he wahine haka a Rāwinia he kuia tāngia ki te moko kauae me te tautoko i ngā mokopū wānanga puta i te motu.  He waiata tangi tēnei mōna nā tana iwi a Te Whakatōhea.

text: E kui Rāwinia He waiata tangi tēnei mō Rāwinia Te Kani he uri nō Te Whakatōhea.  I whānau mai a Rāwinia ki roto o Ngāti Rua he hapū nō Te Whakatōhea, i pakeke mai ia ki roto o Ngāti Rua ki Ōmarumutu, ā, i kuraina ia ki reira.  He wahine rongonui a Rāwinia ki roto o Tūranga i moe ia i a Tokorua Te Kani he ariki nō roto o Tūranga.  Hoi anō he wahine haka a Rāwinia he kuia tāngia ki te moko kauae me te tautoko i ngā mokopū wānanga puta i te motu.  He waiata tangi tēnei mōna nā tana iwi a Te Whakatōhea.

year: 2016