Guest Author • May 27, 2019 •
Tim Maddock It is hard to find a discussion about the future of work without some reference to the emergence of the so-called gig economy. In a speech last year, Grant Robertson suggested that the gig economy has challenged “the very notion of what a job is”. This statement begs the question: how big is the gig economy in … Read More
Jean Balchin • Apr 12, 2018 •
According to a study published in the BMJ today, a significant increase in cigarette prices would aid millions of people around the world avoid poor health and extreme poverty. The study concluded that people on low incomes have the most to gain, and the researchers argue that modest action by many governments “could yield unprecedented health gains and poverty reduction.” Smoking … Read More
Michael Reddell • Apr 12, 2018 •
Just yesterday I wrote, in response to a comment that My point simply was that there is no obvious correlation, in the cross section, between population size and GDP per capita (or productivity). I’m not aware of any serious observer arguing otherwise At the level of very simple correlations, I’d illustrated this lack of relationship – whether for all … Read More
Michael Reddell • Apr 09, 2018 •
I noticed a few comments to another of my posts about possible links between population size and economic performance. My working assumption is that, on average, across all countries, there isn’t any such relationship. Apart from anything else, if there were a positive relationship – that was more than chance – it would suggest that two countries … Read More
Paul Walker • Mar 11, 2017 •
The career dynamics of the gender gap for graduates of the Chicago Business School, as studied by Bertrand, Goldin, and Katz (2010), illustrate a common pattern. While women and men start their careers with similar earnings, a substantial gap arises over time, and the arrival of children is a major concurrent factor in the rising earnings gap. At least in … Read More
Eric Crampton • Oct 05, 2015 •
If we’re tallying the social costs of obesity, what should we make of this one? Obese men make more money than their slimmer counterparts, according to new research from the University of Otago’s Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS).The opposite can be said for women, with obese or overweight women earning less than women of average weight. They were … Read More
Public Health Expert • Sep 12, 2013 •
Professor Tony Blakely Everyone knows that lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to smoke. But why? Is it because of things like less education or more deprivation actually causing you to smoke? Or is it other correlated things like personality? … Continue reading → … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Feb 26, 2013 •
The Dominion Post leads off with a story about a Fairfax Media-Ipsos poll: And the snapshot makes for grim reading: More than half (54.1 per cent) say New Zealand was a better place to live in 2003 than now. Almost 12 per cent were undecided or could not say. The article then throws some numbers around, [...] … Read More
Bill Kaye-Blake • Jan 24, 2013 •
A couple of days ago, the Government launched a new website that allows students to compare potential earnings from different university degrees. The Government said it would be a great source of information for students. Student representatives replied that it didn’t tell them anything new. A word about methodology — this data was made possible [...] … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Mar 23, 2010 •
In a recent post about Google search suggestions for questions about scientists, I noted that one question that recurred as you tried different disciplines was how much people in that field earned. Nature are now running the 2010 edition of their international survey on science-related jobs and incomes. Let ’em know if you’re prince … Read More