Government is present in most aspects of our lives. It taxes and spends more than a third of our economic output. It employs hundreds of thousands of people. It regulates the way New Zealanders can work, travel, do business, and interact with one another.
Our research focuses on the how the will of Parliament interacts with society, whether legislation is fit for purpose, and whether certain policy settings can be improved.
For examples of our work in this field, read our report on government efficiency Fit for Purpose? (2018), our recommendations for regulatory reform, or Reducing Unnecessary Regulatory Costs(2015).
Read our submission to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on The Review of the Capital Adequacy Framework for locally incorporated banks: How much capital is enough? Read more
New Zealand deserves far better water management. Scores of newspaper articles and rigorous reports lay out the problems in the current system. Too much water is being drawn in some catchments, to the detriment of aquifers and rivers. Management of contaminants flowing into the rivers is haphazard and too-often poor. While agricultural runoff into rivers and streams has drawn much attention, urban areas are far from blameless. Read more
A comprehensive and year-long econometric analysis of data for 400,000 students undertaken by The New Zealand Initiative reveals there are no significant differences in school performance between schools of different deciles. Adjusted for the different student populations they serve, the vast majority of New Zealand’s secondary schools create the education outcomes we would expect from them. This finding calls into question the assertion of the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce, led by Bali Haque, which claimed that “quality of our schools... Read more
Tax Working Group’s proposed rate of capital gains tax one of the most penal in the world. Read more
Read our submission to the New Zealand Productivity Commission on their Local Government Funding and Financing Issues Paper (November 2018). Read more
The government has largely put the KiwiBuild and capital gains tax fiascos behind it. Read more
“Nothing good happens after 3 am,” Auckland’s top-ranking police officer once said.“Facts tend to be overanalysed,” his Wellingtonian counterpart claimed.Unfortunately, personal opinions and anecdotal evidence like this about opening hours and alcohol licences of bars and party venues often decide the direction of policy proposals for regulating the night-time economy. Yet, such arbitrary behaviour is typical – abroad and in New Zealand.For example, in 2014 the government of New South Wales introduced new controls for the nightlife across large parts... Read more
At its heart, Kiwibuild was a promise to end the housing crisis. The set of reforms Minister Twyford is overseeing can fulfil that promise, if he has the chance to see them through.The housing crisis has nothing to do with government failing to build enough homes. It stems instead from a nasty mess of perverse incentives facing growing councils, debt limits, infrastructure financing problems, and difficulty in revising district plans under RMA processes – as a starting point.If the prior... Read more
New Zealand attracted global attention after unveiling a "world-first" well-being budget. It's based on priorities such as mental health and child poverty instead of the usual growth and jobs. However, both the NZ Treasury and Reserve Bank have been under fire, raising questions as to whether such a budget could be implemented. Oliver Hartwich discusses the issues with both institutions on Australia's ABC Business News. Read more
Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton talks to Newstalk ZB about the deterioration of the Treasury and the lack of economists being hired. Listen to the full interview below: Read more