Labour force participation and well-being among older New Zealanders

The population of New Zealand, along with those of other developed countries, is ageing rapidly. The rate of population ageing is unprecedented, with the number of New Zealanders aged 65 years and over projected to increase from 553,000 in 2009 to 1.07 million in 2031, and to 1.44 million in 2061. Importantly, the ratio of those aged 65 years and over to those aged 15–64 is projected to increase from 0.19 (older people per person aged 15–64) in 2009 to 0.34 in 2031 and to 0.43 in 2061. This more than doubling of the ratio of older people to those in the prime working and income-earning ages represents a dramatic demographic shift which has implications for New Zealand, particularly in terms of the ability to support New Zealand Superannuation (NZS) at current levels. • Michael P. Cameron teaches in the Department of Economics at the University of Waikato. Matthew Roskruge is with the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, University of Waikato

The value of native birds in New Zealand: Results of a Waikato Survey

Several New Zealand studies have placed a value on recreation. Very few have placed a value on native birdlife. In December 2007 and January 2008, we conducted a phone survey in the Waikato Region of New Zealand. 207 people answered 13 questions on native birds. 97% of respondents enjoy having birds in their area both listening and watching. The Tui is the most important bird respondents either see currently or would like to see. If there were a greater variety of bird types in their area, respondent well-being would increase significantly. Most respondents would be willing to pay an extra amount in their annual rates to support native bird projects within the Waikato Region

The value of native bird conservation: A New Zealand case study

During December 2007 and January 2008, telephone surveys were used to randomly sample Waikato, New Zealand residents. The purpose of the surveys was to determine whether respondents valued native bird conservation programmes in their area. We elicited the contingent valuation approach to determine the value in terms of their willingness-to-pay (WTP) to support regional conservation initiatives aimed at protecting, or restoring, native bird populations. Results indicated that local birdlife was regarded positively by residents and that they were in favour of local conservation and restoration initiatives. 86% of respondents were willing-to-pay an annual addition to their rates (taxes) to support these initiatives. Conservatively, the value of native bird conservation in the region was approximately $13 million (2008 NZ$). Willingness to support these initiatives depended strongly on income, ethnicity and age. The positive WTP for additional regional rates for local birdlife conservation suggests that there could potentially be an underinvestment in birdlife conservation in the Waikato region, and that regional bodies could draw upon local funding, as opposed to relying on central government funding, to support these initiatives

Selected Econometric Models of Social Capital Formation in New Zealand

This thesis examines the factors contributing to the formation of social capital in New Zealand from three distinct angles. Each of these angles concerns a form of geographically referenced investment, either by individuals through settlement post-migration or their homeownership, or by local government investing in local social infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to provide the first empirical analysis of social capital formation within New Zealand and to contribute to the existing body of international literature on the subject in areas which have as yet received little or no attention. The first aspect considered is the relationship between homeownership and social capital formation. Prior studies suggest that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. However, many of these studies find it difficult to control adequately for personal attributes that may be correlated with homeownership while also impacting on social capital formation. The New Zealand Quality of Life survey provides data that enable analysis that controls for these selection effects with propensity score matching methods, while also benchmarking the results by means of regression methods. The results confirm that homeownership exerts positive impacts on the formation of social capital. Concurrently, homeownership demands greater accountability of local government and leads to reduced satisfaction with local government performance – thereby negatively bringing impact upon community social capital. Hence these two dimensions of housing-related social capital work in opposite directions from each other, a finding which has not been previously observed. The role of immigration in social capital formation in New Zealand is the second aspect considered, an important issue for New Zealand given that a quarter of the population was born overseas. Using cross-sectional data from two separate surveys, the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey and the 2008 New Zealand General Social Survey, this thesis evaluates the relationship connecting the birthplace of a migrant and the years since migration with social capital formation. It examines, through a range of regression methods, the factors influencing the stock of social capital held by migrants and the investment of social capital migrants undertake, where social capital investment is separated into bridging and bonding. This chapter finds that stocks of social capital are lowest for migrants in their new host country when they first migrate. This disadvantage appears to decrease over the first five years since migration. In addition, it shows region of birth to be an important factor, with noticeable heterogeneity between different migrant groups. Finally, the section finds that migrant clustering between regions decreases the formation of bridging social capital, while migrant clustering within regions increases the formation of bonding social capital. Thirdly, the thesis investigates the role of local government investment in spatially fixed social capital infrastructure. To achieve this, it links unique data on local social infrastructure expenditure with micro-level individual survey data, which explores self-reported social capital measures of trust and participation in community activities. It uses both probit and tobit models to estimate the impact of social infrastructure expenditure on social capital formation. The results imply that the links between social capital, demographic characteristics, human capital, geography and public social infrastructure investment are more subtle and complex than much of the literature suggests. The analysis presents evidence in support of many of the hypothesized relationships discussed in the social capital literature. The results also suggest that both selection effects and free rider processes shape the impact of public social infrastructure investment

Social capital and regional social infrastructure investment: Evidence from New Zealand

In this paper we link unique data on local social infrastructure expenditure with micro-level individual survey data of self-reported social capital measures of trust and participation in community activities. We use both probit and tobit models to estimate the impact of social infrastructure expenditure on social capital formation. Our results imply that the links between social capital, demographic characteristics, human capital, geography and public social infrastructure investment are rather more subtle and complex than much of the literature implies. While we find evidence in support of many of the hypothesized relationships discussed in the social capital literature, our results also suggest that the impact of public social infrastructure investment is affected by both selection effects and free rider processes.Social capital, trust, participation, public infrastructure, demography, geography

Homeownership and Social Capital in New Zealand

Does homeownership affect individual social capital and thereby influence local outcomes? Following DiPasquale and Glaeser, a body of literature suggests that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. Homeowners have an incentive to engage in the local community in order to preserve or enhance the value of their housing asset. Moreover, homeownership creates barriers to geographic mobility, which increases the present value of the expected stream of benefits from local community social capital. We test the homeownership hypothesis alongside other individual, household and locational determinants of social capital using unique data created by merging the 2006 and 2008 samples of the New Zealand Quality of Life survey. The measures of social capital used in our analysis include trust in others, participation in social networks, attitude towards local governance and sense of community. Since homeownership is not randomly assigned, we complement our regression models with propensity score matching to control for selection effects. The results confirm that homeownership exerts considerable positive impact in the formation of social capital in New Zealand communities. In raising accountability of local government it does, however, lead to reduced satisfaction by homeowners in the performance of local councils.social capital, homeownership, New Zealand, matching methods

Internationalisation of education and returns in the labour market

The education services provided in any given country increasingly contribute to human capital that is employed in another country. On the one hand, graduates may seek to obtain the highest return to the knowledge they gained in their home country by working abroad. On the other hand, some students purchase educational services abroad and will subsequently work abroad, or return home to utilize the internationally acquired knowledge in the domestic labour market. In this paper we use data from the 2006-07 Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey in New Zealand to examine how years of foreign and domestic education affect earnings in the labour market. We account for differences in innate ability by aggregating subjective responses to pertinent questions in the survey and by incorporating parents' educational background. Our findings reconfirm the extensive evidence that education gained in a country of birth has generally a lower return in a foreign labour market than the native born receive in this labour market for the equivalent education. Post-settlement education in the host country has a higher return for migrants than for comparable native born. We also find that the highest returns are obtained among those who, after studying abroad, return home to work- a fact for which there has been to date scarce evidence. Thus, exposure to foreign education can lead to a triple gain: for the country where the education is obtained, for the students' home country and for the students themselves