Business + Economy – Views & Research

Tourist trap: why charging entry fees at iconic NZ natural attractions could have hidden costs

Stephen Espiner, Lincoln University, New Zealand

From fear to fluency: what our students learned when they used AI across an entire course

Alexander Richter, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Ishara Sudeeptha, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Human shakes hands with AI to show partnership.

Treasury has a great cost-benefit calculator for big-spending projects – we just need to use it better

Dennis Wesselbaum, University of Otago and Arthur Grimes, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Ten dollar note with enhanced counterfeit resilience over a calculator with mixed New Zealand coins.

An attempt to lower NZ electricity prices could end up doing the opposite – here’s why

Richard Meade, Griffith University

Lineman works on power lines with Sky Tower in the background.

Commodifying childhood: NZ children see marketing for unhealthy products 76 times a day

Leah Watkins, University of Otago and Louise Signal, University of Otago

Boy eats junk food on the couch with the blue light of a screen reflected back on him.

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Crowdsourced taxi driver picking up a passenger.

Contractor or employee? How a proposed law change will favour Uber over its drivers

Amanda Reilly, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Annick Masselot, University of Canterbury

Small businessman looking stressed surrounded by boxes and clothes.

Small business, big pressure: why the backbones of the NZ and Australian economies need more support

Antje Fiedler, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Stephen Kelly, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Tanya Jurado, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University, and Tui McKeown, Monash University

AI is peeling back the layers of ‘low-value’ work – NZ may be well placed to adapt

Kenny Ching, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Banning contactless and credit card surcharges won’t help – open banking reform is what’s needed

Alexandra Andhov, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau and Jodi Gardner, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

New Trump tariffs: early modelling shows most economies lose – the US more than many

Niven Winchester, Auckland University of Technology

NZ is looking for a deal over Trump’s new tariffs – that could come with a high political price

Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Close up of Ben & Jerry's tub of ice cream.

‘Go woke, go broke’ is no longer true. Socially aware capitalism is the future of corporate responsibility

Peter Underwood, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Rules for calculating climate risk in financial reporting by NZ businesses need revisiting – new research

Martien Lubberink, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Paul Griffin, University of California, Davis, and Tom Stannard, University of Otago

Outside a flood damaged property. Photo taken behind fence.

How real-time data can lead to better decisions on everything from NZ’s interest rates to business investment

Dennis Wesselbaum, University of Otago

Telling stories: the 4 ways micro-influencers build and keep their loyal audiences

Shahper Richter, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Alexander Richter, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, and Drew Franklin, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

Female influencer leaning into her phone with ring light for video recording.

Butter wars: ‘nothing cures high prices like high prices’ – but will market forces be enough?

Alan Renwick, Lincoln University, New Zealand