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Our kaupapa

We are a privately-owned New Zealand company with a foundation of economic research, advice, and professional consultancy built over 60 years in business. 

We are an Accredited Living Wage Employer, and proudly so. It’s our statement that if New Zealand is ever to establish the highly productive, high-wage, highly profitable economy, then the low-wage business model needs to be consigned to the rubbish bin of those experiments that just didn’t work.

Our kaupapa is about people, their communities, and their futures.

Our mission is to make a difference by helping people and their communities realise their potential.

Our commitment is to the wellbeing of current and future generations.

Our approach is research-led, helping decision makers understand problems by collecting evidence and applying sound economic thinking. Our work spans 3 kete; namely:

  • People
  • Te ōhanga Māori
  • Development.

The people kete includes projects assessing demographic challenges and associated employment, education, training needs. Further, demands for recreation, sports, culture and leisure activities, as well as housing, health, and social service provision lie within this kete of work.

Te ōhanga Māori kete includes projects for iwi and Māori entities and businesses, and hapu and whanau trusts and incorporations. Our mahi involves identifying and prioritising investment objectives and providing an evidence base to support the delivery of benefits to members and other stakeholders.

The development kete includes devising, refining, and implementing regional and local economic development plans and strategies. Also included here are: assessing infrastructure projects; export trade and competitiveness impacts; the use, capacity, capability, and accessibility of natural resources; and policy options and analysis.

We place the country’s regional economies in the context of the ‘big picture’ macro economy and we provide a unique understanding of the connections between them.