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Motu Research is an independent, public-good focused economics and policy research institute. 

We help Kiwi decision makers grapple with complex social and environmental issues.
Economic performance

A Quarterly Post-World War II Real GDP Series for New Zealand

Authors: John McDermott | Viv Hall

Working Paper

There are two essential features of macroeconomic data: growth and business cycles. To understand both phenomena, you need a long historical record.

 

Unfortunately, official New Zealand data on quarterly real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) only goes…

Housing

Housing, Health and the Well-being of Children

Authors: Lynn Riggs | Shakked Noy | Philippa Howden-Chapman | Miranda Devlin

Other

This study investigates the relationship between indoor damp, mould, cold and household crowding and the health outcomes of young children exposed to those conditions in Aotearoa.

Updates

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2022-05-02

Applications are open for our Āheitanga Thesis Scholarship

Applications are open for our Āheitanga Thesis Scholarship. Every year, Motu Research offers a $10,000 scholarship pool to promising university…

2022-03-18

Hiring Research Analysts - applications now closed

Do top quality economic and public policy research for the public good

2022-03-18

Hiring Summer Interns - applications now closed

Intern applications for summer 2022/23 are OPEN and close on 4 April 2022.

Our Research

Environment

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Urban & regional

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Wellbeing & macro-economics

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Population & labour

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Human rights

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Productivity & innovation

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Public Policy Seminars

January 27, 2022

The Warmer Kiwis Study: An impact evaluation of the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme.

The Warmer Kiwis Study focuses on the heat pump component of the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme, and works directly with a group of about 160 homeowners, who have received, or will receive a grant for an efficient heater. Motu Economic & Public Policy Research, who are leading the study, are collecting new data on health and wellbeing, the indoor environment in homes (including temperature and humidity), and electricity consumption to investigate the actual improvements achieved through EECA’s programme. The study began in 2021, with interim results the subject of this webinar and an interim report to be published on the same day. Final results will be published in December 2022.

Recent events

November 30, 2021

The role of energy data in enabling climate change mitigation innovation

In this webinar, Gavin Starks provided an introduction to Open Energy: what it is, how it was made and who it is for. He spoke about the Open Energy ecosystem and the relationships and innovation required to establish market-wide standards which can unlock the common data required to help us all address Net Zero. He also covered how opening up the energy sector will impact the wider industrial and financial sectors, enabling the acceleration of low-carbon technologies and de-risking investment in net-zero solutions.

November 1, 2021

Wellbeing and policy, Aotearoa style

Treasury’s Living Standards Framework has been closely aligned with international models such as the OECD for over ten years. Some have said it is too generic and not sufficiently attuned to what wellbeing means in this country. In this seminar we will discuss He Ara Waiora, a mātauranga Māori framing of wellbeing that the Treasury now uses alongside the LSF. We will also discuss some new changes to the LSF that make it work better alongside He Ara Waiora, as well as being better attuned to the topics of child wellbeing and culture.

October 27, 2021

Buildings for net-zero: the European Union experience with sustainable housing regulation and implementation

The recently published report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) signals ‘a code red for humanity and recommends
that greenhouse gas emissions decrease as soon and as quickly as possible. Developed economies like the European Union and Aotearoa New Zealand can help in this effort by leading by example. Reducing our buildings' footprint is an important component to the transition to net-zero, yet many of those buildings that will stand in 2050 are energy inefficient buildings that already stand today.

Featured work

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New Zealand and the world

Accounting for social difference when measuring cultural diversity

Authors: Dave Maré | Jacques Poot

Working Paper

In this paper we introduce a measure of cultural diversity that takes ‘social difference’ between country of birth and ethnic groups into account.   We measure social difference using exploratory factor analysis of subjective identity, attitude…
Individual and group outcomes

Who benefits from firm success? Heterogeneous rent-sharing in New Zealand

Authors: Dave Maré | Corey Allan

Working Paper

See a summary version of this paper by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Do people from different demographics in Aotearoa New Zealand get equal slices of the pie when their workplace passes
Individual and group outcomes

Impact of 2018 Families Package Accommodation Supplement area changes on housing outcomes

Authors: Dave Maré | Dean Hyslop

Working Paper

Our research shows there is little evidence the 2018 increases in the New Zealand Government's accommodation support led to stronger increases in rental costs.
Agricultural economics

How climate affects agricultural land values in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Farnaz Pourzand | Kendon Bell

Working Paper

This paper examines how differences in climate across space influence the value of New Zealand agricultural land.
Climate Teams: International Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Climate Action Teams (CATs)

Authors: Catherine Leining | Suzi Kerr | Ana Pueyo

Article

Researchers (including some from Motu Research) have developed Climate Action Teams (CATs), an innovative way for countries to use the latest global climate summit (COP26) rulebook for international carbon markets — in a way that…
Individual and group outcomes

Do workers share in firm success? Pass-through estimates for New Zealand

Authors: Dave Maré | Corey Allan

Working Paper

Do wages increase when firm performance improves? Yes, but not as much.Aotearoa New Zealand, like many other developed countries, has had a decline in the share of total national income that goes to workers. Workers' wage…
Individual and group outcomes

Rates of driver licence holding in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Isabelle Sin | Hannah Kotula

Note

This note describes the rates which various subpopulations of Aotearoa New Zealand’s population hold licences for motor cars and light motor vehicles.
Climate change mitigation

Methodology for Modelling Distributional Impacts of Emissions Budgets on Employment in New Zealand

Authors: Lynn Riggs | Livvy Mitchell

Working Paper

Efforts to reduce emissions to counter climate change are expected to have both costs and benefits, and these effects are likely to be unevenly distributed across the population. Hence, we developed the Distributional Impacts Microsimulation…
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Wellington 6142, New Zealand

Phone: 64 4 939 4250

Email: info@motu.org.nz