Issue 16 May 2005
In this issue are the following articles:
- Did regulation save the whales?
- Creative destruction alive and well in NZ
- Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the lights
- Fitting governance
- B-, maybe? Evaluating our financial markets
- Walking over property rights
- More broadband? More competing platforms!
- Equal information access...at a cost
Did regulation save the whales?
Whales were pushed to the brink of extinction before a worldwide moratorium against commercial whaling came into force in 1986. But was it the moratorium that saved the whales- or economics? Viktoria Schneider from Otago University and David Pearce from University College of London suggest the later.
Creative destruction alive and well in NZ
Headlines of job losses, downsizing, and bankruptcy are seldom associated with a vibrant economy - yet such creative destruction is an essential ingredient in the creation of economic growth. ISCR's Steen Videbeck looks at some recent research, by John McMillan from Stanford Graduate College of Business, which has endeavoured to quantify the amount of creative destruction present in the New Zealand economy.
Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the lights
The winters of 2001 and 2003, when New Zealand's electricity generation and distribution systems struggled to meet demand, highlighted the country's capacity vulnerability. Peter McLay warns that the relative stability of electricity prices during the 2004 winter should not distract us from long-term capacity-planning issues.
Fitting governance
Disney, Enron, Marsh & McLennan, Worldcom (in the United States), Parmalat (Italy) and Yukos (Russia) - it's apparent that corporate governance failures are a global problem. While New Zealand appears to have come through the corporate malaise unscathed, recent allegations of insider trading at Tranz Rail suggest that the potential for poor corporate governance can be an issue in any environment. Stuart Gillian has been casting an eye over some aspects of the current approach to governance reform. He asks if it risks missing the big picture.
B-, maybe? Evaluating our financial markets
How well are New Zealand financial markets performing? Paul Dickie from Victoria Management School provides some provocative answers to this question.
Walking over property rights
At the end of 2004, Cabinet agreed to a policy on walking access over privately owned land. It endorsed the view that this access can be provided at near-zero cost to landowners. The Cabinet paper notes that 'the walking access policy in not intended to interfere with the essential elements of a landholder's title to the land. Landholders will continue to retain their rights to the occupation and use of the land'. Officials are still working on policy relating to the need (or absence of need) for compensation to private owners of land over which the access is provided. Lewis Evans and Neil Quigley offer a contribution to their deliberations and an assessment of the costs of the policy.
More broadband? More competing platforms!
Broadband access provides internet users with high-speed always-on connectivity - and many policymakers see ubiquitous broadband access as the way for consumers and firms to exploit the potential of new computerised internet applications. Now an international policy debate on how to stimulate the adoption of broadband technologies is underway, with competition policy as one of its most disputed issues. Bronwyn Howell unbundles the arguments - and the evidence.
Equal information access...at a cost
The New Zealand Exchange (NZX) recently required listed firms to disclose immediately any information that may affect their share price. The provision of more equal access to information should be fairer, preventing a small group of privileged investors from profiting at the expense of others. But - as ISCR's Richard Frogley points out - recent research in the United States suggests that this benefit comes at a significant cost.