Search

Pets are an important part of many peoples’ lives, and provide mental, physical and emotional benefits. However, the costs of pet ownership have received little attention. We investigate the association between pet ownership and wage income using data from the 2018 General Social Survey. We hypothesise that pet ownership may negatively influence income by lowering labour mobility and positively influence income by garnering valuable psychosocial attributes. We analyse interactions between pet ownership and education, pet ownership and housing tenure, and pet ownership and race to further investigate the potential labour mobility channel. Overall, we find that pet ownership decreases wage income and that these negative effects are larger for groups where mobility effects are likely higher.

Consumption of solid fuels by households is a major cause of indoor air pollution (IAP) and can severely damage health and the environment. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) literature suggests that as poor and middle-income countries grow, households will climb the ‘energy ladder' and adopt cleaner fuel technologies. This paper critically assesses that claim, using data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2013- 14. A novel aspect of our study is that, rather than treating the choice to use each fuel type as independent, we instead focus on the households' choice of fuel mix, using cluster analysis to determine in a data-driven way the fuel mixes that households actually employ. Importantly, despite income being a strong determinant of fuel mix selection, we show that income growth alone is unlikely to lead to substantial uptake of cleaner fuels. Our results challenge a practical aspect of countries moving along the EKC, and suggest that in order to reduce IAP direct policy intervention will be required.

Pre-drinking behaviour has grown in prevalence and generates harm for pre-drinkers and others. In this article, we answer three research questions: (i) Where and when do pre-drinkers obtain their alcohol?; (ii) What is the difference in the level of intoxication of pre-drinkers versus non-pre-drinkers, and how does this difference vary over the course of a night?; and (iii) Is the level of intoxication of pre-drinkers related to where and when they obtain their alcohol?We obtained data from 469 respondents using a street-intercept survey conducted in Hamilton, New Zealand in 2019. Data were analysed by cross-tabulation, linear regression and plotting the average intoxication level in the night-time economy over time.The majority of pre-drinkers purchase their alcohol for pre-drinking on the day of consumption. Half of the same-day purchasers purchase before 6 pm. The average level of intoxication increases over the course of the night, and is unambiguously higher for pre-drinkers than non-pre-drinkers. The level of intoxication does not differ based on the source or timing of pre-drinking purchases. The main motivation for pre-drinking was price, especially among women.Pre-drinking is a contributor to intoxication in the night-time economy, but most drinkers purchase their alcohol for pre-drinking before 7 pm. Further research is required to understand whether trading hours restrictions for off-premises alcohol suppliers will affect the most harmful drinking patterns. Price interventions to reduce the price differential between on-licenced and off-licence alcohol outlets offer the greatest potential to reduce pre-drinking and associated harm.

This study extends the literature on the role of institutional quality in international migration to an under-researched aspect: the intention of international migrants to return to the home country. We examined whether the perception of differences in institutional quality between OECD destination countries and Vietnam and the stated importance attached to such differences influence the intention of Vietnamese migrants to return home. We used data from a web-based survey (N = 159) conducted in 2016. The countries where the respondents resided comprised approximately 90% of the Vietnamese diaspora in the world. We considered six different dimensions of institutional quality. We found, both descriptively and by means of weighted logistic regression analysis, that Vietnamese migrants who perceive a greater difference in institutional quality between the destination country and Vietnam are less likely to report intentions to return. This effect is stronger for those who attach greater importance to institutional quality. However, gender shows notable heterogeneity, with the effects of institutional quality being more robust and closer to the theoretical expectations for men than for women.

Using panel data, this study is the first to offer an empirical analysis of the effect that absolute income and three specifications of comparison income have on individual happiness in a transitional country. We use unique data from the Viet Nam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) in three cycles (2012, 2014, and 2016), including a representative sample of 6,575 respondents from 12 provinces in rural areas in Vietnam. Taking advantage of panel data, we use a fixed-effects regression approach to control for individual unobservable heterogeneity. The approach taken in this paper divides subgroups according to relative income instead of absolute income. This analysis allows the elimination of opposing relations to see the same direction effect of social comparison income on individuals’ happiness The results reveal that individuals compare themselves to more than one reference group, and compare themselves both with those better off and those worse off. Nevertheless statistically significant results only attain when one outweighs the other or when they both look downward or upward in their comparison. Interestingly, the outcome turns from asymmetry to near symmetry when the reference group’s interaction effects change from opposed to the same.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs are planned for key populations in India. We examined PrEP awareness and willingness to use PrEP in order to support products and services for MSM. From December 2016 to March 2017, we conducted a survey and discrete choice experiment (DCE)-a technique to quantify the strength of participants' trade-off preferences among various product attributes-to assess willingness to use PrEP and related preferences. MSM were recruited from cruising sites and HIV prevention services in Mumbai and Chennai. DCE data were analyzed using mixed logit regression models and estimated marginal willingness-to-pay, the relative value participants' place on different PrEP attributes. Overall, 76.6% indicated willingness to use PrEP. Efficacy had the greatest effect on choice (high vs. moderate, aOR = 19.9; 95% CI 13.0-30.4), followed by dosing frequency (intermittent vs. daily regimen, aOR = 2.02; 95% CI 1.8-2.2). Participants preferred no (vs. minor) side-effects, subsidized (vs. market) price, and government (vs. private) hospitals. Findings suggest that educational and social marketing interventions should emphasize PrEP's high efficacy and minimal side effects, and programs should provide government-subsidized PrEP with choices of intermittent or daily dosing delivered by government and private hospitals/clinics in order to optimize PrEP uptake among MSM in India.

Auckland, the largest city of New Zealand, is one of the most diverse cities in the world, with more than 40% of its population born abroad, more than 200 ethnicities represented and 160 languages spoken. In this paper, we measure residential sorting of individuals in Auckland by their cultural (ethnicity) and economic (income, education and occupation) characteristics for the years 1991–2013. Using entropy-based measures of residential sorting and of neighbourhood diversity, we find that individuals exhibit greater residential sorting by ethnicity than by economic characteristics. Geographically, the semi-rural fringes of the city exhibit less diversity than the central urban area. Multi-group indexes of cultural and economic sorting showed a small decline over the 1991–2013 period. We also observe that ethnic sorting declined over that period for broad ethnic groups, but that sorting within the broad ethnic groups increased since 2001. A similar pattern of decreasing sorting at the aggregate level, with increasing sorting within groups in the more recent sub-period, is observed for occupations.

This paper conducts a robustness analysis of the impact of diasporas on institutional quality in home countries. Using the Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC), we attest that the home country institutional development role of diasporas found in the literature is robust to modifications in terms of the dataset, the measurement of diasporas and the instrumental variable procedures used in our cross-sectional and panel analyses. The novelty of this paper is that we take the heterogeneity of diasporas into account in terms of their distribution across host countries, their duration of stay, and the level of development of their home countries. As in earlier literature, we find robust evidence that diasporas enhance institutional quality in home countries. We also find that the intensity of the diffusion of advanced institutions from developed host countries to home countries through the international migration channel is weaker with diasporas characterized by shorter average duration of stay and with diasporas from developing home countries. However, this diffusion effect is not significantly related to the distribution of diasporas across OECD host countries.

We conduct a contingent valuation investigation of the preference of international migrants for better home country institutional quality. Our study uses contingent valuation questions in a survey of 1.6% of Vietnamese adult migrants living in New Zealand (NZ) in 2016 to establish the compensating differentials that make those migrants indifferent between residing in NZ and returning to Viet Nam (VN) in hypothetical scenarios. We find that the estimated willingness to pay for an incremental unit improvement in institutional quality in VN is, on average, about NZD 80 per week (approximately 33% of the average weekly wage in VN in PPP terms for the same period), and positively associated with the respondents’ age and the perceived importance of institutional quality in VN to their repatriation intentions. This study underscores the importance of institutional quality to migration decisions by showing that migrants are willing to trade-off part of their regular income for better home country institutional quality.

This study aims to estimate the mean costs of breast cancer in New Zealand's public health system.This study included women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2018 who received services in public hospitals. These patients were identified from the National Breast Cancer Register or the New Zealand Cancer Registry and linked with the Pharmaceutical Collection, National Minimum Dataset, National Non-Admitted Patient Collection and Mortality Collection.22,948 breast cancer patients were included. The mean public health cost of breast cancer was NZ$44,954 per patient for the period of three months preceding and five years following cancer diagnosis, with the treatment phase accounting for 70% of the cost and the follow-up phase accounting for the remaining 30%. During the treatment phase, surgery costs accounted for the biggest proportion (35%) of the total cost, followed by immunotherapy costs (18%), radiotherapy costs (17%) and costs of diagnostic test, scan and biopsy (16%). The costs decreased substantially with age, from $69,121 for women younger than 45 years old to $23,805 for those aged 80 or over.The costs of breast cancer in New Zealand's public health system are substantial and have been increasing. However, outcomes of breast cancer have been improving. The results of this study can be used as a baseline of actual costs for comparing the costs of introducing new diagnosis and treatment modalities in the future.

Highlights • A substantial minority of the ambient population in the night-time economy had engaged in side-loading. • Unlike pre-drinking, side-loading was not statistically significantly associated with greater levels of intoxication (as measured by breath alcohol content). • Side-loading might not be used as a method for drinkers to enhance intoxication, but instead as a means of sustaining a target level of intoxication., Although pre-drinking has attracted considerable research interest, side-loading (any drinking occurring outside of licensed premises during a night out, and excluding drinking at home) is comparatively under-studied. In this paper, we investigate the prevalence of side-loading behaviour and intoxication in the night-time economy of Hamilton, New Zealand’s fourth-largest city. Using a street-intercept survey conducted over six nights (n = 469) in March and April 2019, we found that 17.5% of research participants (82/469), and 19.9% of drinkers (82/413), had engaged in side-loading. Of those engaging in side-loading, the majority did so in a car (61.0%), with smaller proportions engaging in side-loading in the street (17.1%), a carpark (12.2%), or somewhere else (13.4%). Men were significantly more likely than women to engage in side-loading behaviour (p = 0.001). In linear models controlling for time of the night, day of the week, and demographic variables, side-loading was not statistically significantly associated with breath alcohol content. This contrasts with pre-drinking, which was associated with statistically significantly higher breath alcohol content. Our results suggest that side-loading might not be used as a method for drinkers to enhance intoxication, but instead as a means of sustaining a target level of intoxication during an evening.

This article examines the link between local institutional quality in the home country and locational choices of international return migrants. We scrutinize the locational choices of Vietnamese return migrants to the south central and the south regions of Viet Nam in 2014. Binary and multinomial regression models are fitted to identify the influence of migrants' individual attributes and the characteristics of regional destinations within Viet Nam. Our analysis reveals that both individual-specific and region-specific variables are significantly related to Vietnamese return migrants' choices when registering for permanent residency back in their home country. More remarkably, we provide compelling evidence of the positive role of institutional quality at the local level in these migration decisions. Moreover, the effect of institutional quality differs with the characteristics of migrants: regions with better institutional quality are more attractive both to younger return migrants and to those who returned from host countries with better institutional quality. International Migration

The purpose of this study was to identify social determinant and communication correlates of health-related quality of life for kaumātua (Māori elders) in New Zealand. A total of 209 kaumātua completed a self-report survey of self-rated health, physical/mental quality of life, spirituality, and a series of questions about social determinants (e.g., factors related to income) and communication variables (e.g., loneliness, social support, cultural identity, and perceived burden/benefit). The survey was baseline data for a peer education intervention to help kaumātua work through life transitions in older age. The main findings of this study were that social determinants, particularly difficulty paying bills, accounted for a small amount of variance in physical/mental quality of life and self-rated health. Further, the communication correlates of loneliness, perceived burden, and desired support accounted for about three times as much variance in these two outcomes all with negative associations. Strength of tribal identity, importance of whānau (extended family), and knowledge of tikanga (customs and protocols) accounted for a moderate amount variance in spirituality with positive associations. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for positive aging.

We revisit in this chapter a common issue with popular indices used for measuring residential sorting, i.e. the extent to which a subgroup of the population is spatially distributed (sorted or segregated) differently from the remainder of the population. Specifically, we show that three common measures of residential sorting (viz. the Index of Segregation, the Index of Isolation and the Entropy Index of Segregation) are affected by group size, i.e. the expected values of the indices are positive rather than zero under random sorting, and the size of this positive bias is related to group size. This is an important issue because it is common to compare sorting indices across groups of rather different sizes, both cross-sectionally and over time. Using New Zealand data, we demonstrate group-size impact on bias in measures of residential sorting by means of scatter plots and regression in four different ways: (1) investigating the relationship between group size and each residential sorting measure calculated with actual data; (2) randomly allocating individuals across area units, calculating the resulting residential sorting measures, and again investigating the relationship between index values and group size; (3) showing that normalised/systematic indices of sorting are also related to group size; and (4) calculating the bias for each sorting index and investigating the relationship with group size. Our empirical illustration uses microdata on the self-reported ethnicity of individuals (with multiple responses possible) from five New Zealand Censuses of Population and Dwellings (1991–2013) for the Auckland region, selected due to its high ethnic diversity. Our results demonstrate that the Entropy Index of Systematic Segregation measure of residential sorting is the measure that is least affected by group size variation. As a result, we strongly recommend using this index of sorting as a preferred measure.

Projections or forecasts of future population, and the age and sex structure of the population, are key inputs to decision-making. However, these projections have an associated uncertainty that is often underappreciated by decision-makers. Moreover, a decision-maker faced with multiple population projections has no clear basis on which to decide between alternative projections. In this chapter, we outline the sources of uncertainty in population projections. We then describe the development of population projection methods in New Zealand, where the representation of uncertainty has become central to official projections produced by Statistics New Zealand, as well as alternative projections produced by the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis. Finally, we outline a model-averaging approach that can be used by decision-makers to combine the information from multiple independent population projections. This may provide a more accurate approach to the use of population projections in decision-making, without requiring substantial modelling capability. This approach is illustrated with the example of subnational areas for the Waikato Region of New Zealand.

A wide range of push and pull factors have been shown to influence the decisions to migrate to another country, but the effect of the quality of institutions on the origin and destination countries has received less attention than it deserves. This chapter reviews the theoretical framework and the extant empirical evidence for the importance of political and economic institutions to international migration decisions. Key aspects of this body of literature are illustrated further with an analysis of the return migration decisions of Vietnamese migrants.

Background Aotearoa/New Zealand has a population that is ageing and there are challenges to health and social outcomes related to related to key life transitions (e.g., retirement, change in health conditions, loss of spouse). Further, there are significant inequities between Māori (Indigenous people) and non-Māori in ageing outcomes. The purpose of this study was to test the impacts and cost effectiveness of a tuakana/teina (peer education) intervention on kaumātua (elders) receiving the intervention. This study was framed by a strengths-based approach based on the key cultural concept of mana motuhake (autonomy and self-actualisation). Methods This study was grounded in principles of Kaupapa Māori and community-based participatory research to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to co-develop and co-evaluate the intervention. The intervention had tuakana (peer educators) having conversations with up to six teina (recipients) and providing information related to health and social services. The research design was a pre- and post-test, clustered staggered design. Participants completed a baseline assessment of health and mana motuhake measures consistent with Māori worldviews along with two follow-up assessments (one after the first intervention group completed its activities and a second after the second intervention group completed its activities). Additionally, five focus groups and open-ended questions on the assessments were used to provide qualitative evaluation. Findings A total of 180 kaumātua were recruited to the intervention with 121 completing it. The analysis revealed improvements over time in the expected direction on most of the variables. However, only three of the variables had statistically significant intervention effects: received support, tribal identity, and trouble paying bills. Qualitative results supported impacts of the intervention on mana motuhake, social connectedness, and tangible/information support related to services. Cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the intervention is cost effective, with a cost per QALY of less than the conventional threshold of three times gross domestic product per capita. Conclusions The findings support the relevancy and importance of kaumātua knowledge to create a strengths-based approach to improve health and social outcomes. This study demonstrates that a contextually based and culturally safe age-friendly environments can facilitate engagement and participation by kaumātua for kaumātua. Trial registry Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12617001396314); Date Registered: 3 October 2017 (retrospectively registered); https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=373733&isClinicalTrial=False

Objective The aim of this study was to examine ways that older Māori (New Zealand’s Indigenous people) enhanced their ability to be peer educators and how this role impacted on their sense of purpose and well-being in later life. Method Kaupapa Māori and community-based participatory research principles guided the peer intervention involving 26 Māori kaumātua (older people 55 years and older) as peer educators (tuakana) for 121 other kaumātua (teina) facing transitions in later life. Each pair held up to 3 conversations; independent coders rated tuakana communication skills. We used mixed methods in a pre- and post-test, clustered staggered design. Participants completed baseline and post-intervention assessments of health and well-being consistent with Māori worldviews. 5 focus groups involving 22 teina and 1 with 5 tuakana were held. Results Tuakana communication skills were rated as high by teina and independent coders. Qualitative analysis supported the importance of Māori communication processes for the role. Further, three measures increased significantly from the baseline to the final period for tuakana accounting for about 15% of the variance in these variables: sense of purpose (p = .07), self-rated health (p = .05), and health-related quality of life (p = .04). The qualitative analysis supported the benefits of the peer educator role for older Māori including enhanced sense of identity, well-being, and social connectedness. Discussion The results demonstrated that kaumātua had strong communication in the peer educator role and that the intervention has positive impacts for them. The study contributes to peer intervention research that may help to improve experiences ofIndigenous and other older people.

This study estimates fuel expenditure and price elasticities of household fuels in Pakistan. The burning of biomass is harmful to health and the environment and may cause preventable morbidity and mortality. It is important to investigate how households' fuel choices are linked to prices, so that governments can consider appropriate steps to enhance the consumption of clean fuels. Using three pooled cross-sectional surveys from Pakistan and applying the Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System (LA-AIDS) model, we found that all fuel types except natural gas were price inelastic at the national level and for urban households. In rural areas, natural gas and LPG were found to be more price elastic compared to urban areas. Simple policy simulations based on our results suggest that in order to reduce indoor air pollution by encouraging the adoption of clean fuels (LPG and piped natural gas), governments should subsidies clean fuels rather than imposing taxes on solid fuels. Moreover, in the case of Pakistan a subsidy for LPG should be preferred over a subsidy for piped natural gas, as it produces a more cost-effective reduction in solid fuel use.

Objective:We measured changes in the average level of intoxication over time in the nighttime economy and identified the factors associated with intoxication, including pre-drinking.Method:A random intercept sample of 320 pedestrians (105 women; 215 men) was interviewed and received breath alcohol analysis in the nighttime economy of Hamilton, New Zealand. Data were collected over a five-night period, between 7 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Data were analyzed by plotting the moving average breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) over time and using linear regression models to identify the factors associated with BrAC.Results:Mean BrAC was 241.5 mcg/L for the full sample; 179.7 for women and 271.7 for men, which is a statistically significant difference. Mean BrAC was also significantly higher among those who engaged in pre-drinking than those who did not. In the regression models, time of night and pre-drinking were significantly associated with higher BrAC. The effect of pre-drinking on BrAC was larger for women than f...

This paper evaluates the impact of climate change on the spatial distribution of population in New Zealand, focusing on the effects of climate on internal migration dynamics. Specifically, a gravity modelling framework is first used to identify climate variables that have statistically significant associations with internal migration. The gravity model is then embedded within a population projection model to evaluate the effect of climate scenarios on regional populations. Of the climate variables, only surface radiation in the origin exhibits a significant association with internal migration. Including this variable in the population projection model makes a small difference to the regional population distribution, and the difference between different climate scenarios is negligible. Overall, the results suggest that, while statistically significant, climate change in the form of changes in the distribution of the weather will have a negligible effect on the population distribution of New Zealand at the regional level. These null results probably reflect the high capacity for adaptation to climate change available to a developed country.

Globally, around three billion people depend upon solid fuels such as firewood, dry animal dung, crop residues, or coal, and use traditional stoves for cooking and heating purposes. This solid fuel combustion causes indoor air pollution (IAP) and severely impairs health and the environment, especially in developing countries like Pakistan. A number of alternative household energy strategies can be adopted to mitigate IAP, such as using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas, biogas, electric stoves, or improved cook stoves (ICS). In this study, we estimate the benefit-cost ratios and net present value of these interventions over a ten-year period in Pakistan. Annual costs include both fixed and operating costs, whereas benefits cover health, productivity gains, time savings, and fuel savings. We find that LPG has the highest benefit-cost ratio, followed by natural gas, while ICS has the lowest benefit-cost ratio. Electric stoves and biogas have moderate benefit-cost ratios that nevertheless exceed one. To maximize the return on cleaner burning technology, the government of Pakistan should consider encouraging the adoption of LPG, piped natural gas, and electric stoves as means to reduce IAP and adopt clean technologies.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many people still question the extent to which population ageing and the ageing-driven ending of growth will unfold more or less as projected. This is particularly so in New Zealand, where the population is still relatively youthful due to near-replacement fertility and many years of high per capita net migration gains. As elsewhere, however, the picture differs markedly at subnational level, with the populations of one-quarter of the nation’s 67 territorial authority areas (TAs) already (in 2017) having more than 20% aged 65+ years. Accompanying this trend, one-third of the nation’s TAs declined in population between 1996 and 2013, primarily because of net migration loss at young adult ages, but in the process accelerating their structural ageing. Taking a subnational approach, this paper explores the dynamics of population ageing across New Zealand’s TAs. We demonstrate that structural ageing is accelerating and that even excessively high levels of net international migration gain cannot be expected to appreciably reduce future structural ageing. We also show that over the period 2013–43 the majority of declining TAs will move from the old form of decline, caused by net migration loss exceeding natural increase, to a new form caused by the combined effects of net migration loss and natural decrease. The findings reinforce our central argument that the phenomenon of population ageing and the ageing-driven end of growth will not ‘go away’ and has urgent implications for matters such as rate-based local government infrastructure funding.

Unfortunately, some correction requests of the author were not considered. In several occurrences, instead of the Greek letter “delta” the Greek letter “gamma” has been typeset. The publisher regrets this error and apologizes for the inconveniences caused. The original publication has been updated.

Background The Aotearoa/New Zealand population is ageing and numerous studies demonstrate with this phenomenon comes increases in non-communicable diseases, injuries and healthcare costs among other issues. Further, significant inequities exist between Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand) and non-Māori around poor ageing and health. Most research addressing these issues is deficit oriented; however, the current research project takes a strengths-based approach that highlights the potential of kaumātua (elders) by asserting mana motuhake (autonomy, identity and self-actualisation). We believe that the esteem of elders in Māori culture signals transformative potential. Specifically, this project utilises a ‘tuakana-teina’ (older sibling/younger sibling) peer-educator model, where kaumātua work with other kaumātua in relation to health and wellbeing. The objectives of the project are (a) to develop the capacity of kaumātua as peer educators, whilst having positive impacts on their sense of purpose, health and wellbeing; and (b) to enhance the social and health outcomes for kaumātua receiving the intervention. Methods The research is grounded in principles of Kaupapa Māori and community-based participatory research, and brings together an Indigenous community of kaumātua, community health researchers, and academic researchers working with two advisory boards. The project intervention involves an orientation programme for tuakana peer educators for other kaumātua (teina). The research design is a pre- and post-test, clustered staggered design. All participants will complete a baseline assessment of health and wellbeing consistent with Māori worldviews (i.e., holistic model). The tuakana and teina participants will be divided into two groups with the first group completing the intervention during the first half of the project and the second group during the second half of the project. All participants will complete post-test assessments following both interventions allowing comparison of the two groups along with repeated measures over time. Discussion The findings will provide an evidence base for the importance and relevancy of kaumātua knowledge to create contextually based and culturally safe age-friendly environments that facilitate engagement and participation by kaumātua for kaumātua. If the model is effective, we will seek to facilitate the dissemination and scalability of the intervention. Trial registration Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12617001396314); Date Registered: 3 October 2017 (retrospectively registered). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1041-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In this paper we report on population change and its demographic drivers for 143 New Zealand towns, 132 rural centres and 66 Territorial Authority Areas (TAs), for the period 1976-2013. We undertook the exercise to identify whether New Zealand’s towns and rural centres are following their international counterparts in declining from what is proposed as a ‘new’ and increasingly intractable form of population decline, where net migration loss is accompanied by natural decrease, as opposed to the ‘old’ form where natural increase is positive but fails to offset net migration loss. We also examined whether ‘age-selective migration’, as in the migration-driven loss of young people and/or gain of older people, is a major factor driving New Zealand’s subnational structural population ageing. We found that the old form of depopulation, net migration loss, was the major determinant of New Zealand’s subnational depopulation across the period 1976-2013; also that migration was highly age-selective. In the process, it accelerated the structural ageing of the majority of TAs, towns and rural centres. In 2013, 41 per cent of towns and 29 per cent of rural centres had populations with greater than 20 per cent aged 65+ years (compared with just 15 per cent for Total New Zealand); 85 per cent of towns were older with migration than they would have been in the absence of migration, as were two-thirds of rural centres and four-fifths of TAs. We also found the new, ‘dual’ form of depopulation to be present, but as yet affecting a relatively small number of towns and rural centres. However, projections at TA level indicate that the shift to natural decrease and the new form of depopulation will soon escalate, the latter becoming the major cause of depopulation by 2043 and the major cause of population change per se. Overall our analysis confirms that migration is not a panacea for growth. Just 39 per cent of towns, 33 per cent of rural centres, and 26 per cent of TAs were larger in 2013 than 1976 as the result of migration. A further 27 per cent of towns, 17 per cent of rural centres, and 36 per cent of TAs also grew across the period, but were smaller with migration than they would have been in its absence; for them, natural increase played the major role in determining growth. Moreover, we found that migration is negatively correlated with natural increase, and, relatedly, that the proportion of women aged 15-44 years heavily determines natural increase. These findings suggest that areas losing their young, reproductive age population are paying the price of the gains made by other areas. These findings have a number of policy implications, all of which point to the need for regionally-specific policies.

Improving student retention and academic performance is a key objective for higher education institutions, and finding effective interventions for assisting with at-risk students is therefore important. In this article, we evaluate a proactive pastoral care intervention that was trialled in an introductory economics course in New Zealand. We first identified students at high risk of failure, and then randomized these students into two treatment groups and a control group. The first treatment group received an email with information about academic support, while the second treatment group received the email as well as a personal telephone call to follow-up. In evaluating the impact of the intervention trial, we found that the first intervention did not significantly improve student outcomes, but the second intervention improved outcomes in one of the two semesters evaluated. Overall, the initiative was a qualified success. It is both simple and cost-effective and should be considered for wider impl...

Rectal microbicides (RMs) may offer substantial benefits in expanding HIV prevention options for key populations. From April to August 2013, we conducted Tablet-Assisted Survey Interviewing, including a discrete choice experiment, with participants recruited from gay entertainment venues and community-based organizations in Chiang Mai and Pattaya, Thailand. Among 408 participants, 74.5 % were young men who have sex with men, 25.5 % transgender women, with mean age = 24.3 years. One-third (35.5 %) had ≤9th grade education; 63.4 % engaged in sex work. Overall, 83.4 % reported they would definitely use a RM, with more than 2-fold higher odds of choice of a RM with 99 versus 50 % efficacy, and significantly higher odds of choosing gel versus suppository, intermittent versus daily dosing, and prescription versus over-the-counter. Sex workers were significantly more likely to use a RM immediately upon availability, with greater tolerance for moderate efficacy and daily dosing. Engaging key populations in assessing RM preferences may support biomedical research and evidence-informed interventions to optimize the effectiveness of RMs in HIV prevention.

We measured changes in the average level of intoxication over time in the nighttime economy and identified the factors associated with intoxication, including pre-drinking.A random intercept sample of 320 pedestrians (105 women; 215 men) was interviewed and received breath alcohol analysis in the nighttime economy of Hamilton, New Zealand. Data were collected over a five-night period, between 7 P.M. and 2:30 A.M. Data were analyzed by plotting the moving average breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) over time and using linear regression models to identify the factors associated with BrAC.Mean BrAC was 241.5 mcg/L for the full sample; 179.7 for women and 271.7 for men, which is a statistically significant difference. Mean BrAC was also significantly higher among those who engaged in pre-drinking than those who did not. In the regression models, time of night and pre-drinking were significantly associated with higher BrAC. The effect of pre-drinking on BrAC was larger for women than for men.The average level of intoxication increases throughout the night. However, this masks a potentially important gender difference, in that women's intoxication levels stop increasing after midnight, whereas men's increase continuously through the night. Similarly, intoxication of pre-drinkers stops increasing from 11 P.M., although remaining higher than non-pre-drinkers throughout the night. Analysis of BrAC provides a more nuanced understanding of intoxication levels in the nighttime economy.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: We investigate the relationship between outlet density (of different types) and violence (as measured by police activity) across the North Island of New Zealand, specifically looking at whether the relationships vary spatially. DESIGN AND METHODS: We use New Zealand data at the census area unit (approximately suburb) level, on police-attended violent incidents and outlet density (by type of outlet), controlling for population density and local social deprivation. We employed geographically weighted regression to obtain both global average and locally specific estimates of the relationships between alcohol outlet density and violence. RESULT: We find that bar and night club density, and licensed club density (e.g. sports clubs) have statistically significant and positive relationships with violence, with an additional bar or night club is associated with nearly 5.3 additional violent events per year, and an additional licensed club associated with 0.8 additional violent events per year. These relationships do not show significant spatial variation. In contrast, the effects of off-licence density and restaurant/cafe density do exhibit significant spatial variation. However, the non-varying effects of bar and night club density are larger than the locally specific effects of other outlet types. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The relationships between outlet density and violence vary significantly across space for off-licences and restaurants/cafes. These results suggest that in order to minimise alcohol-related harms, such as violence, locally specific policy interventions are likely to be necessary. [Cameron MP, Cochrane W, Gordon C, Livingston M. Alcohol outlet density and violence: A geographically weighted regression approach. Drug Alcohol Rev 2015]. Language: en

Worldwide, populations are ageing and consequently so are the consumer profiles for most organisations. Understanding how best to ensure satisfaction in interactions with older customers, patients, members of organisations, and so on is therefore increasingly important. This paper examines two research questions: (a) How satisfied or dissatisfied are older people with their customer service experience, and what are the factors associated with dissatisfaction? and (b) What prompts older people to want to change service providers? The research questions are addressed using a mixed-methods approach – quantitative analysis of observation logs, supported by illustrative quotes from focus groups. We find that on the whole older people are generally satisfied with their interactions with organisations, although a substantial minority of interactions lead to dissatisfaction or lower-than-expected satisfaction. Dissatisfaction with interactions is mostly associated with impersonal communications, including interactions that are not conducted face to face, and those that are one-off interactions rather than repeated interactions. Media and communications firms prompted the greatest levels of dissatisfaction among older consumers. Dissatisfied older consumers from our sample are more than 12 times more likely to report an intention to switch providers than satisfied consumers. This highlights the potential costs to organisations of poor customer interactions with older people.