The role universities can play in supporting the state sector

Over recent decades most of the developed world has invested significantly in lifting the proportion of the population that has a tertiary education, with a view to increasing what is commonly referred to as human capital. The OECD defines human capital as ‘the knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and economic well-being’ (OECD, 2001) New Zealand spends around 1% of its the proportion of the population with a GDP on tertiary education (OECD, tertiary qualification over the past couple 2014) and has seen a significant rise in the proportion of the population with a tertiary qualification over the past couple of decades. In 1991, 8.2% of the working-age population had a degree at bachelor’s level or higher (Statistics New Zealand, 1991). By 2013 this had risen to 26.1%. In 1991, having a degree was a way of differentiating oneself to an employer; now it is an expectation for many jobs, including an increasing number in the state sector. This article considers the educational profile of the state sector’s employees at the time of the 2013 census, and examines the ways universities are contributing to this profile and to lifting the human capital available to the state sector. • Chris Whelan is the Executive Director of Universities New Zealand – Te Päkai Tara

Why departments need to be regulatory stewards

Some of the most important assets that the New Zealand government develops and maintains are not recorded on the Crown\u27s balance street. They are the regulatory arrangements that have been developed, introduced and refined over many years to protect the rights, safety, property and other interest of its citizens, residents and visitors, according to this report. Summary The latest Crown financial statements report that, at 30 June 2014, the New Zealand government held total assets valued at around $256 billion (New Zealand Government, 2014). These included a diverse range of physical, financial and other assets, such as national parks, highways, state houses, electricity generation plant and equipment, Kiwibank mortgages, shares, deposits, and the National Library and Te Papa collections. But some of the most important assets that the New Zealand government develops and maintains are not recorded on the Crown’s balance sheet. They are the regulatory arrangements that have been developed, introduced and refined over many years to, among other things, protect the rights, safety, property and other interests of its citizens, residents and visitors, allocate responsibilities for various risks, and otherwise help them transact or engage with each other on fair and efficient terms

The role and importance of long-term fiscal planning

There is reason to hope that long-term fiscal planning can still be effective in New Zealand.IntroductionMany countries now require the regular publication of longterm fiscal projections, looking at the potential long-term costs of government spending programmes. In New Zealand, section 26N of the Public Finance Act 1989 (as amended in 2004) requires the Treasury to publish a Statement on the Long-Term Fiscal Position at least every four years. Under the act, such statements must look out at least 40 years. Their contents are the responsibility of the secretary to the Treasury (rather than the minister of finance), and the Treasury is required to use ‘its best professional judgments’ in assessing the fiscal outlook and potential risks.It is also obliged under the act to ensure that ‘all significant assumptions underlying any projections’ are included in the statement. Aside from these parameters, the act is silent on the matters to be covered, giving the Treasury considerable flexibility over the process employed to produce such documents, including the nature and extent of any consultation with external experts, the wider policy community and interested stakeholders. Since the requirement for such statements was introduced in 2004 the Treasury has published three reports. The most recent of these – Affording Our Future – was released in July 2013. Against this backdrop, this article considers:the nature of long-term fiscal planning; why long-term fiscal planning is important; why a legislative requirement for such planning is desirable; whether long-term fiscal planning actually achieves its goals; some of the uncertainties involved in long-term fiscal planning; and the potential for long-term planning in areas beyond fiscal ones

The policy worker and the professor: understanding how New Zealand policy workers utilise academic research

How do policy workers actually use academic research and advice? While there are several recent studies regarding this question from other Westminster jurisdictions, similar academic studies have been rare in New Zealand. So far, most of the local research in this field has been conducted by the prime minister’s chief science advisor and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, with the particular instrumental purpose of improving the government’s ministries and agencies’ ‘use of evidence in both the formation and evaluation of policy’. However, none of these studies have asked how, and to what extent, policy workers in government are utilising academic research in their everyday work. • Karl Löfgren is Associate Professor in the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington. Donatella Cavagnoli was a researcher with the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington

Reflections and outlook for the New Zealand ETS: must uncertain times mean uncertain measures?

This article discusses the development and performance of New Zealand\u27s emissions trading scheme since the report of the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Panel in 2011. Introduction The New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS) was introduced by legislation in 2008. The legislated objectives as stated in section 3 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 are to ‘support and encourage global efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by (i) assisting New Zealand to meet its international obligations under the [UNFCCC] Convention and the [Kyoto] Protocol; and (ii) reducing New Zealand’s net emissions of those gases to below business-as-usual levels’. Beyond this, the New Zealand government has confirmed three objectives for the ETS: help New Zealand to deliver its ‘fair share’ of international action to reduce emissions, including meeting any international obligations; deliver emission relations in the most cost-effective manner; support efforts to maximise the long-term resilience of the New Zealand economy at least cost. ........ This article discusses the development and performance of the scheme since the report of the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Panel in 2011. In particular, the article presents the results of a survey undertaken by the authors in April 2013 of stakeholders’ perception of the scheme and its performance. The survey was designed and administered by the authors using FluidSurveys software

Improving the implementation of regulation: time for a systemic approach

The importance of an ‘efficient and effective regulatory environment’ (Offices of the Ministers of Finance and Regulatory Reform, 2013) has never been more prominent in New Zealand than it is at the present time. The New Zealand Productivity Commission’s Regulatory Institutions and Practices report, which is both a product of and contributor to this enhanced prominence, noted that there is growing interest in regulation in New Zealand stemming from the increased importance of individual freedoms and human rights, the growing awareness of the impacts of both good and bad regulation, the way government now organises itself to provide services and implement policy, and the diversity of society and its range of attitudes to risk and expectations about government’s actions. There are many ways to enter into a discussion about an efficient and effective regulatory environment: for example, through the lens of boosting New Zealand’s productivity growth, international competitiveness and living standards (Minister of Finance and Minister of Regulatory Reform, 2009); in relation to the increasing focus on good public sector management, which includes regulatory system stewardship (Treasury, 2013); or by addressing the importance of avoiding, responding to and learning from regulatory disasters (Black, 2014). Discussions may or may not include philosophical perspectives on the place or volume of regulation. But, whatever the view on more or less regulation, or the entry point to the discussion (broad economic performance, regulatory stewardship or avoiding regulatory failures), we probably all agree that regulation that is in place should provide benefits that would not accrue in its absence, at reasonable cost

Third sector accounting and accountability in Australia: anything but a level playing field

This research report seeks to understand why some Australian not-for-profit organisations make voluntary financial disclosures beyond their basic statutory obligations. Introduction This paper surveys previous work on voluntary information disclosures in accounting reports of Australian Not-for-Profit organisations (NFPs). This is new research and is a part of a project to evolve a comprehensive explanation of why Australian NFPs disclose what they do disclose; and to capture and explain patterns of variations between NFPs between what they regard to disclose and the type of information they disclose. To accomplish this, first some background information about the NFP sector are considered. Then, the Australian NFP sector is reviewed. Third, the information needs of some key stakeholders are briefly discussed. Next, the research methodology where a literature survey which looks at not just disclosures to NFPs but to the commercial sector that are plausibly &nbsp