October 2018 Newsletter

  Newsletter - October 2018

This month we welcome Rob Heyes to the Infometrics team, and chat with Rob in a reprisal of our interview series "A day in the life of an economist".
Gareth Kiernan examines the consolidation trend in the residential construction industry, and compares it with the Australian experience.
Infometrics has recently revised its economic outlook and Gareth discusses some of the factors influencing our view. 
Measuring well-being has become a hot topic and Brad Olsen discusses Infometrics’ plans to develop a regional well-being framework to roll out to clients early next year. 
Small area geographic boundaries in New Zealand have changed and our Chart of the Month shows the relationship between the old Area Units and new Statistical Area boundaries in Kāpiti Coast. 

                Articles

                                Larger firms increase their share of residential building activity

                        Consolidation in New Zealand’s residential construction industry has resumed since 2011 as building activity has recovered from the Global Financial Crisis. In 2017, the 100 largest firms made up almost 40% of consents, although that figure slipped to 37% in the March 2018 year. We had expected this trend of consolidation to take place, but it contrasts with a declining market share for the top 100 firms in Australia. Does this apparent fragmentation of the market in Australia foreshadow a similar change for New Zealand?
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                                Downside risks to NZ’s growth outlook accumulate

                        New Zealand’s provincial economies are poised to drive growth in the economy, building on the recovery in dairy prices during 2016, according to Infometrics latest economic forecasts. Spending activity in the regions is comfortably outpacing activity in the main centres, with commodity prices for most exports holding at high levels.
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                                Community wellbeing: the next frontier?

                        Earlier this month, Infometrics economist Brad Olsen spoke at the Economic Development New Zealand 2018 Conference ‘Mahi Tahi’ about how to move towards measuring inclusive growth in NZ’s regions. This article summarises the key points of his presentation.
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                                Chart of the month: New Small Area Boundaries

                        Small area boundaries have changed in New Zealand and Infometrics is gearing up for the changeover. We are evolving our Small Area Economic Profiles (https://www.infometrics.co.nz/product/small-area-profiles) into a more comprehensive Small Area Economic Framework based on the new boundaries.
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                                A day in the life of an economist – Rob Heyes

                        Infometrics welcomes Rob Heyes as our newest senior economist. Rob joins Infometrics from MBIE, where he led research projects on migration trends and was the New Zealand representative to the OECD Migration Expert Group. Rob has a deep knowledge of labour markets and skills and works with our regional and sector clients.
We chat with Rob about what a day in the life of an economist looks like…
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