Search

The policy mix is an analytical framework for understanding the elements, processes, dimensions and characteristics of complex policy systems. This article applies this framework to Aotearoa New Zealand's policy mix for climate mitigation, both to understand why we have the policies we have, and also to stimulate ideas about how to improve outcomes. Instead of a comprehensive analysis, the article focuses on the mix of policy instruments, the evaluative principles that guide policy appraisal, the challenge of harmonising multiple principles, and the influence of economic principles on the scope and intent of policy mixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Zealand housing market has become a public concern due to the significant surge in housing prices. The steep increase in housing prices has presented significant difficulties for individuals seeking homeownership, particularly for first-home buyers. Therefore, this research aims to identify the crucial factors of the New Zealand housing price system and their influence on housing prices. The system dynamics (SD) methodology was applied to organise the cause and effect variables into a causal loop diagram (CLD) illustrating the structure and interaction of the primary feedback mechanisms within the complex system of housing prices. Accordingly, population growth, macroeconomic stability, investment demand, monetary policy, and construction costs are key contributing factors to promoting affordable housing prices and increasing homeownership rates in New Zealand. The construction costs, including the land cost, are the most significant of all the factors. Hence, there is a call to prioritise optimising construction resources. This research's developed model was validated by exploring experts' views on the model's components and system dynamics. The findings provide relevant stakeholders in New Zealand's residential construction sector with solutions and guidelines for coping with supply and demand fluctuations and reducing economic cycles on material price and workforce development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak with a mix of policies. The strictest responses of the New Zealand government are notable, given their abilities to contain and limit the spread of the virus. However, their impacts on stock returns remain unclear. This paper investigates the impact of three policies, namely lockdown, the stimulus package, and the travel ban, on the returns of 14 New Zealand industry stock indices. Using daily data from 1 January 2019 to 25 August 2020, evidence points to a heightened level of integration among the various industry stock indices during the early stages of the pandemic. Only lockdown has had a positive impact on aggregate stock returns, suggesting its ability to raise investors' confidence in the overall stock market. At the industry level, the impact of the three response policies is generally positive but heterogeneous across industry stock indices. Notably, none of the three adopted policies significantly impact technology, healthcare, and real estate returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although house prices and wages are both influenced by distinct factors that shape their own evolutions, they are also intrinsically connected through house price affordability. Further, macroeconomic policies centred around adjustments in the mortgage rate are of prime importance in ensuring that the housing market does not overheat. This study contributes to the understanding of the link between housing market affordability and mortgage rates by investigating this association across regions of New Zealand using quarterly data between 2000 and 2017. Applications of trajectory regression reveal that the global financial crisis affected regional house price affordability asymmetrically and there was no statistically significant correlation between house price affordability and mortgage rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers legal interventions to facilitate an affordable housing market in New Zealand. In particular, it focuses on meaningfully increasing supply and facilitating intensification and options in growing cities. It analyses the measures currently proposed by central government, including deregulation and reforms to the Resource Management Act 1991 and assesses whether these measures can achieve density and increased options and housing choices. It proposes measures such as making full use of the RMA's effects-based model, releasing National Policy Statements and carefully drafting cohesive and strategic City Plans which focus on outcomes and quality. These measures should be supported by a range of incentives, disincentives, regulations and supplementary measures to ensure the implementation of transformative town plans. A plethora of interconnected issues have contributed to the current housing problem; economic issues like demand and social issues like immigration and NIMBY-ism (Not in my backyard). While this article focuses on meaningfully increasing supply, it acknowledges that legal interventions and supply increases are not a silver bullet solution. A smorgasbord of legal reforms as well as economic and social changes must occur to truly address affordability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chapter will document the Canadian reaction, as reflected in the demand of New Zealand, that Canada fundamentally alters its dairy supply management system in order to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The Canadian government has resolutely refused to do so, supported wholeheartedly by dairy farmers throughout the country. This is in part because of the effect such an action would have on rural spaces and the debilitating result it would have on Canadian dairy production. As well, the chapter will address the issue of the cost of dairy products in New Zealand as compared with Canada. Part of this analysis will focus on the role of supermarkets in determining the price structure of milk in both Canada and New Zealand. Finally, the chapter will offer an examination of the New Zealand system as represented by Fonterra and the Canadian system as epitomized by dairy supply management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act) represents the most substantial overhaul of New Zealand's securities law in recent history. The regulation of derivatives in particular featured high on the agenda as an area in need of reform and, as a result, the FMC Act is much more clear than the Securities Act 1978 and Securities Markets Act 1988 with respect to typical derivative agreements. The focus of this article, however, is on the atypical: the use of derivatives in prediction markets. This article examines whether New Zealand-based prediction market iPredict will be regulated under the FMC Act and, if so, how it will be regulated. The conclusion reached is that iPredict can operate under the FMC Act only if the Financial Markets Authority declares that its contracts are derivatives and grants substantial exemptions from regulatory compliance. This article then makes recommendations for a more coherent approach to the regulation of prediction markets by analogy with the new prescribed intermediary service licences under the FMC Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the US sub-prime mortgage meltdown into a global financial crisis clearly demonstrates the increasingly integrated nature of mortgage and capital markets. However, notwithstanding the global scale and severity of the recent financial crisis, the effects of the credit crunch were mediated by nationally constituted housing markets, the activities of local financial institutions and national housing policies. Adopting an institutional perspective this paper critically examines the manner in which the financial crisis impacted upon the Australian and New Zealand housing markets. These countries had actively participated in the liberalisation of mortgage markets and experienced significant house price inflation post-2000 but, in contrast to the USA and some European experiences, they escaped a severe housing downturn. It is argued that a combination of pre-existing institutional practices, market conditions and government policies acted to shelter these markets and created the potential conditions for a new housing boom. While avoiding a deep housing slump, both Australia and New Zealand have to address the on-going macroeconomic implications of a system predicated on housing inflation and capital gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the impact of the emergence of cannabis‘tinny’ houses on the use and sale of cannabis and other illicit drugs in New Zealand. A national sample of 5800 people aged 13–45 years were interviewed about their drug use using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system as part of the 2001 National Drug Survey. A question on cannabis procurement was used to create two subgroups of cannabis buyers for further analysis: (i)‘tinny’ house buyers—those who had purchased‘some’,‘most’ or‘all’ of their cannabis from a‘tinny’ house ( n = 145) and (ii) personal market buyers—those who had purchased‘none’ or‘hardly any’ of their cannabis from a‘tinny’ house ( n = 342). The two groups of cannabis buyers were compared for a range of variables.[‘Tinny’ houses are residential properties converted for the‘supermarket’ sale of cannabis and other illicit drugs to anyone who attends the premises with cash.] Those purchasing cannabis from‘tinny’ houses were significantly more likely than those purchasing cannabis from the personal market to smoke one joint or more on a typical occasion, to purchase cannabis weekly or more often, to purchase small weights of cannabis, to be sold lower quality cannabis than they paid for, to know their cannabis dealer sells other illicit drug types and to use high potency strains of cannabis. There was no significant difference between the‘tinny’ house and personal market cannabis buyers with respect to the frequency of cannabis use, prices paid for the same weights of cannabis, levels of other victimization, levels of other drug use or levels of encouragement by cannabis sellers to purchase other drug types. Those purchasing cannabis from‘tinny’ houses were more likely to be aged 15–17 years old and to be of Maori ethnicity than those purchasing cannabis from the personal market. Cannabis‘tinny’ houses attracted more adolescent and more Maori clientele. However,‘tinny’ houses did not appear to be contributing to the spread of the use of other drug types either through the active marketing of other drugs or by having these drugs available for sale at these locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governmental influence is one of the cultural causal processes affecting the geography of agriculture. In New Zealand where agricultural socialism is well developed, there ate numerous examples of this influence in agriculture, such as the program designed to encourage wheat growing so as to lessen the dependence on overseas imports. A complex system of state control has developed which provides growers with attractive prices and yet, at the same time, protects consumers from inflated price for bread and flour, As a result of the comprehensive governmental control, wheat growing in New Zealand is frequently thought to be largely a response to state incentives. This hypothesis cannot be substantiated, Returns from competing systems of land utilization are influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]