Capital Based Sustainability Indicators as a Possible Way for Measuring Agricultural Sustainability

This paper takes the capital based approach to sustainability and applies this to examine the sustainability of different farming methods. The capital based approach argues that for future generations to be as well off as the present than the capital base should at least be maintained. The paper explores some of the issues around this approach such as the definition of capitals, their measurement and weakness in the approach which do not account for the resilience of system and/ or the substitutability of capitals. The paper outlines how this could be applied to agriculture and show sustainability across different farming methods. The data used is from the ARGOS (Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability) project which has collected data on social, economic and environmental factors from kiwifruit orchards green, green organic and gold, for five years. The results show little significant differences across orchard types. This may be due to the homogeneity of kiwifruit orchards and it is intended to expand this to the sheep sector to examine this further.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Measuring Productivity using the Index Number Approach: An Introduction

This paper provides an introduction to productivity measurement using index number techniques. Attention is given to the construction of productivity series using common index number formulae, the economic and axiomatic approaches to selecting an index number formula, and the use of chaining. Special attention is also given to measuring physical capital inputs and quality adjusted labour inputs. Numerical examples are used throughout the paper to illustrate the analysis.Productivity measurement; index numbers; capital, quality-adjusted labour inputs

Measures of human capital: A review of the literature

Human capital is increasingly believed to play an important role in the growth process, however, adequately measuring its stock remains controversial. This paper identifies three general approaches to human capital measurement; cost-based, income-based and education-based, and presents a critical review of the theories and their applications to data from a range of countries. Emphasis on empirical evidence will be given to the case of New Zealand.human capital, economic growth

Productivity Measurement: Alternative Approaches and Estimates

This paper provides a review of conceptual and methodological issues in measuring productivity. Attention is given to the concept of productivity and the relationship between productivity and technological change. Different approaches to measuring productivity are surveyed and the results from a number of NZ productivity studies are summarised. The availability of appropriate input and output data is essential for the accurate measurement of productivity and therefore this paper also discusses some important data issues that influence productivity measurement.Productivity; Measurement Issues; New Zealand; Technological Change

Capital Shallowness: A Problem for New Zealand?

There is now substantial evidence that New Zealand’s overall rate of economic growth relative to Australia’s has been lower in part because of lower levels and slower growth in our labour productivity. This then requires us to explore why the labour productivity is lower in New Zealand. This paper explores the extent to which a lower level of capital per hour worked (or lower capital intensity) is associated with less output per hour worked in New Zealand. We find that the capital intensity in New Zealand has not been increasing as fast as in Australia for nearly 25 years. Between 1995 and 2002, lower capital intensity explains 70 percent of the difference in output per hour worked. Whereas the cost of labour relative to capital has been rising in Australia, it has fallen by 20 percent in New Zealand between 1987 and 2002. The relative price of labour to capital in New Zealand fell to 60 percent of the Australian value in 2002 after being comparable in the late 1980’s. It is to be expected that New Zealand enterprises would therefore tend to adopt less capital intensive production methods. Differences in capital intensity could also have arisen because the underlying production technologies are different even if the relative prices of labour and capital in the two economies had been similar. We explore this issue and find a similar response of capital intensity to changes in the wage rate relative to the return on capital for the economies as a whole. However when we exclude the mining sector we find that the responsiveness in New Zealand is about one half that of Australia. Whether there are impediments or greater uncertainty in New Zealand that limit the ability of firms to respond to economic signals as much as their Australian counterparts remain as possible explanations requiring further investigation.New Zealand; Australia; Capital-labour ratios; relative factor prices

Measuring the economic impact of immigration: A scoping paper

This discussion paper has three objectives. Firstly, it provides a brief review of recent international empirical research on the labour market impact of immigration. The synthesis of this literature is facilitated by reference to the results from a recent meta-analysis of the impact of immigration on wages. Secondly, the paper briefly reviews international research on other dimensions of the economic impact of immigration, namely productivity and technical change, trade and international relations, the fiscal impact, socio-economic impacts and externalities, and economy-wide (general equilibrium) effects. The approach adopted in considering each of these impacts is to identify the main issues associated with the particular impact, followed by key international references and, where available, New Zealand references on the particular type of impact. The gaps in NZ research are then identified along with any difficulties with the data available for replicating the international studies in New Zealand. Thirdly, the paper seeks to identify feasible (in terms of data availability) suggestions for further research that would add to our knowledge of the economic impact of immigration in New Zealand

Productivity in New Zealand 1988 to 2002

This paper reports new aggregate and industry productivity series for the New Zealand economy for the period 1988 to 2002. These productivity series are intended for ongoing monitoring of New Zealand’s productivity performance and for use in further analyses investigating the evolution, sources and determinants of New Zealand’s productivity growth. Productivity series are constructed using index number techniques and industry data sourced from Statistics New Zealand. Throughout, comparisons are made with the productivity estimates reported in Diewert and Lawrence’s (1999), Measuring New Zealand’s Productivity. Industry data are also used to construct productivity series that are comparable with the market sector productivity series published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The comparison between Australia and New Zealand shows that market sector multifactor productivity has been similar in both countries over the full sample period. Since 1994 average labour productivity growth has been higher in Australia, which reflects the relatively lower rate of physical capital accumulation in New Zealand after 1993. On the other hand, New Zealand’s capital productivity growth has been higher than Australia’s capital productivity growth since 1994, reflecting the relatively higher growth in hours worked in New Zealand.Economic growth; productivity measurement; index numbers; Australia and New Zealand comparison

Saving in New Zealand: Measurement and Trends

This paper examines the trends in saving in New Zealand. It considers different sources of information about saving and highlights issues with the measurement of saving. Illustrations are provided of the impact of adjusting saving for both the effects of inflation and the inclusion of some items of expenditure, which are typically counted as consumption. The difficulty of drawing clear implications for policy on the basis of our existing knowledge and data on saving and wealth levels in New Zealand is highlighted. An appendix to the paper includes a comprehensive set of data on New Zealand saving and related variables.Saving by sectors, measurement

Exploratory Research into the Resilience of Farming Systems during Periods of Hardship

This paper investigates the management strategies and responses used by New Zealand sheep and beef farmers to ensure resilience during periods of hardship. Using two, farm level surveys conducted in 1986 and 2010, some aspects of resilient farming systems were identified. Despite apparent hardship current farmers seemed more willing to take risks, with many more borrowing to invest in on farm developments than those in 1986. The main similarity between time periods was the greatest response to economic changes being the adoption of a low input policy. This result was quite significant, as conventional farmers are generally believed to resort to other strategies or responses.Resilience, New Zealand, indicators, sustainable agriculture, strategies, Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics,

Does New Zealand have a household saving crisis?

Household Income and Outlay Accounts, Household Savings, New Zealand