Research
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Gender in the labour market
"Gendered parenting and the intergenerational transmission of gendered stereotypes: Evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand survey," with Livvy Mitchell, Maanaima Soa-Lafoai, and Colleen Ward, Motu Working Paper 22-10, (2022).
"The wage cost of a lack of access to affordable childcare in Aotearoa New Zealand," with Thomas Benison, New Zealand Economic Papers (2023); 58(1), pp 40-73, doi: 10.1080/00779954.2023.2278039.
Interim reports on the effects of lack of access to childcare on mothers' labour market outcomes, for Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women and the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women.
"The Drivers of Mothers' Parental Leave Decisions: Evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal survey," with Shakked Noy, report for the Ministry of Social Development and Motu Working Paper 21-08, (2021).
View full paper; View policy brief
"The Motherhood Penalty: A matter of gender or of leave?" with Shannon Minehan and Sophie O'Brien, (2021).
"Learning about leave: Peer influences in maternal leave decisions," with Nicholas Watson, (2021).
"The gender wage gap among medical specialists: A quantitative analysis of the hourly pay of publicly employed senior doctors in New Zealand," with Bronwyn Bruce-Brand and Charlotte Chambers, BMJ Open (2021); 11:e045214. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045214. (Previously: "Is the pay of medical specialists in New Zealand gender biased?")
View full paper; View Motu working paper; Non-technical summary; Presentation at ASMS conference
"Where to from here? Women remain absent from senior academic positions in Aotearoa New Zealand's universities," with L.A. Walker, C. Macinnis-Ng, K. Hannah, and T.G. McAllister, Education Sciences, 10(6), 152 (2020).
"Parenthood and labour market outcomes," with Kabir Dasgupta and Gail Pacheco, report for the Ministry for Women and Motu Working Paper 18-08, (2018).
View Motu working paper; Non-technical summary; Media coverage
"What drives the gender wage gap? Examining the roles of sorting, productivity differences, bargaining, and discrimination," with Steven Stillman and Richard Fabling, Review of Economics and Statistics, (2022), 104 (4): 636-651; https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01000
View Motu working paper; Non-technical summary; Media coverage; Updated draft July 2020; Updated draft July 2020 appendix; Published paper (restricted access)
Other labour market research
"Involuntary job loss: Welfare effects, earnings impacts, and policy options," with Dean Hyslop, Dave Maré, and Shakked Noy, Motu Working Paper 21-06, (2021).
"The effect of trial periods in employment on firm hiring behaviour," with Nathan Chappell, IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 10(1) , 20200009, (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2020-0009.
View final published paper; View Treasury Working Paper; Non-technical summary; Media coverage; Updated draft January 2020
"Why Are There More Accidents on Mondays? Economic Incentives, Ergonomics or Externalities" with Michelle Poland and Steve Stillman, IZA Discussion Paper No. 12850, (2019).
"Measuring the 'Gig' Economy: Challenges and options," with Lynn Riggs and Dean Hyslop, Motu Working Paper 19-18, (2019) .
View Motu working paper; Non-technical summary
"Economic Liberalisation and the Mobility of Minority Groups: Evidence from Māori in New Zealand," with Steven Stillman, IZA Journal of Migration, (2016), 5:4.
"The settlement experiences of Pacific migrants in New Zealand: Insights from LISNZ and the IDI," with Judd Ormsby, report for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Motu Working Paper 19-02, (2019).
View full paper; Non-technical summary; Radio NZ interview
Migration and knowledge diffusion research
"Persecution and Migrant Self-Selection: Evidence from the Collapse of the Communist Bloc," with Ran Abramitzky and Travis Baseler, NBER Working Paper 30204, (2022).
"Domestic migration and the outcomes of New Zealand bachelor’s graduates," with Ran Abramitzky.
"Quality of life, quality of business, and destinations of recent graduates: fields of study matter," with Arthur Grimes, David C. Maré, Jacques Poot, and Shaan Badenhorst, The Annals of Regional Science, (2023), 70: 55-80, DOI: 10.1007/s00168-022-01117-x.
An earlier version of this paper was titled "'Hometown and whanau, or big city and millennials?' The economic geography of graduate destination choices in New Zealand."
View full paper; View Motu working paper
"The Gravity of Ideas: How distances affect translations," The Economic Journal, (2018), 128(615), pp 2895-2932.
View full paper via Wiley (subscribers only); Author draft; Online appendices; Data and code
"Book Translations as Idea Flows: The effects of the collapse of Communism on the diffusion of knowledge," with Ran Abramitzky, Journal of the European Economic Association, (2014), 12(6): 1453-1520.
View full paper via Wiley (subscribers only); Author draft; Appendix; Online appendix; Data and Stata code
"Diffusion of Green Technology: A Survey," with Corey Allan and Adam B. Jaffe, International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, (2014), 7: 1-33.
"Exporting, innovation and the role of immigrants," with Richard Fabling, Adam Jaffe, David C. Maré, and Lynda Sanderson, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Working Paper (2014).
"Insights from Book Translations on the International Diffusion of Knowledge," doctoral dissertation, Department of Economics, Stanford University (2011).
View abstract; Dissertation (note this is a very large file)
"The Geographical Mobility of Maori in New Zealand," with Steven Stillman, Motu Working Paper 05-05, (2005).
"The Effect of Financial Incentives on International Migration: Evidence from interest-free student loans," with Ran Abramitzky (forthcoming).
"The settlement experiences of Pacific migrants in New Zealand: Insights from LISNZ and the IDI," with Judd Ormsby, report for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Motu Working Paper 19-02, (2019).
View full paper; Non-technical summary; Radio NZ interview
Education and other research
"Who can leave a partner who uses violence?" with Shannon Minehan, Janet Fanslow, and Alayne Mikahere-Hall, Motu Working Paper (forthcoming), funded through a Children and Families Research Fund grant and by the Ministry of Justice.
"Building on strengths: Educational pathways that benefit Māori students," with Shannon Minehan, Motu Working Paper (forthcoming), commissioned by Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development.
"Effective pathways through education to good labour market outcomes for Māori: Literature summary," with Shannon Minehan and Nicholas Watson, Motu Working Paper 22-05, (2022).
"The lasting impact of external shocks on political opinions and populist voting," with Eugenio Levi and Steven Stillman, Economic Inquiry, (2024), 62(1), pp. 347-374, doi: 10.1111/ecin.13184. (Previously "Understanding the Origins of Populist Political Parties and the Role of External Shocks")
"Projecting the effect of climate change on residential property damages caused by extreme weather events," with Jacob Pastor-Paz, Ilan Noy, Abha Sood, David Fleming-Munoz, and Sally Owen, Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 276, 111012 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111012.
View paper (subscribers only); View Motu working paper version; Executive summary
"The effects of neighbourhood and workplace income comparisons on subjective wellbeing,” with Shakked Noy, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 185, pp. 918-45 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.11.008.
View paper (subscribers only); View authors' draft
"Domestic migration and the outcomes of New Zealand bachelor’s graduates," with Ran Abramitzky.
“How did removing allowances for postgraduate study affect students' choices?” with Eyal Apatov and David C. Maré, Motu Working Paper 18-03, (2018).
View Motu working paper; Non-technical summary
"The Dynamics of Adverse Selection in the Market for Slaves," (2008).
"The Likely Regional Impacts of an Agricultural Emissions Policy in New Zealand: Preliminary Analysis," with Emma Brunton, Joanna Hendy and Suzi Kerr, Motu Working Paper 05-08, (2005).
"Taxes vs Permits: Options for Price-Based Climate Change Regulation," with Suzi Kerr and Joanna Hendy, New Zealand Treasury Working Paper 05/02, (2005).
"Maori Incomes: Investigating Differences Between Iwi," with David C. Maré, Motu Working Paper 04-06, (2004).
"Bartercard?" University of Canterbury Honours Thesis (2002).
Other writing
"Rates of driver licence holding in Aotearoa New Zealand," with Hannah Kotula, Motu Research Note 44 (2021).
View Motu note; Tables; Explore the data
"The Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Technologies in Agriculture," Motu Research Note 12 (2012).
Review of How Many Languages Do We Need? The Economics of Linguistic Diversity, by Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber, in The Journal of Economic History, vol 72(1), March 2012, pp 282-283.
View full review via Cambridge Journals Online (subscription required); Author's draft
Contact: isabelle.sin (at) motu.org.nz