NZAE Conference 2009
Dean Hyslop
Dean Hyslop is Professor of Econometrics at Victoria University of Wellington, a Senior Researcher at the Department of Labour, and a Senior Research Associate at Motu. He has previously held positions at UCLA, the Treasury and the Reserve Bank, and visiting research positions at UC Berkeley and the University of Melbourne.
His distinctions include being the co-recipient of the Econometric Society’s 2008 Frisch medal given biennially to an applied paper published in Econometrica in the previous 5 years. He did his undergraduate study in Mathematics and Economics at Victoria University of Wellington, and has a PhD from Princeton University. His research interests lie in labour economics and applied econometrics, and his current research is mainly focused on Statistics New Zealand’s Linked Employer-Employee Database (LEED).
The topic for Dean’s address was “Programme Evaluation”
Professor Peter Phillips
Peter Phillips is currently Sterling Professor of Economics and Professor of Statistics at Yale University, where he has been since 1979. He has held a part-time position in the Department of Economics at the University of Auckland since 1992. Peter held previous positions at the University of Essex (1972-1976) and the University of Birmingham (1976-1979), where he was Head of the Department of Econometrics and Social Statistics.
Peter’s main research interests are in econometrics, time series, financial econometrics, panel data models, multivariate analysis and empirical macroeconomics. He is currently working on nonlinear analysis, nonstationary panel data models, spurious regression theory, volatility estimation, trend likelihood, instrumental variables, nonlinear discrete choice and some other topics in econometric theory including optimal long run estimation and problems of weak instrumentation.
Peter is the Founding Editor of the Cambridge Journal, Econometric Theory and Founding Editor of the Cambridge Advanced Textbook Series, Themes in Modern Econometrics.
Peter was awarded the title Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Association of Economists in 2004.
The topic for Peter’s address was “Two New Zealand Pioneer Econometricians”
Professor Robert MacCulloch
Robert MacCulloch currently holds a Chair in Economics at Imperial College Business School London. He received his first degree in Mathematics from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Upon graduating, he worked for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand implementing their inflation targeting regime and then travelled to Oxford University where he completed his D.Phil in Economics in 1998. After further pursuing his research interests at the University of Bonn in Germany, London School of Economics and Princeton University in the United States, he joined the Business School at Imperial College in September 2004, where he is Director of the Doctoral Programme.
Professor MacCulloch’s main research interest is political economy. In particular, he studies the determinants of conflict and the security of property claims, corruption and regulation, and the role of economic and political forces in shaping welfare state institutions. He has also studied happiness and the way it is affected by inequality and macroeconomic fluctuations, as well as the connection between beliefs and economic performance. His latest paper studies the effect of freedom on the taste for revolution across the world.
The topic for Robert’s address was “Why doesn’t Capitalism Flow to Poor Countries.”
Hon Rodney Hide
Widely acknowledged as one of the country’s most effective politicians, Rodney Hide is a tireless promoter of ACT’s vision of a free and prosperous New Zealand where the role of government is limited to protecting the freedoms of its citizens.
A classical liberal from a hard-working background, Rodney made his name in Parliament as a defender of ordinary Kiwis’ rights and freedoms.
The founding chairman of the ACT Party, predecessor of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, and its founding president, Rodney has been instrumental in the establishment and evolution of ACT as New Zealand’s liberal party.
His is currently Minister of Local Government and Regulatory Reform, but is perhaps becoming better known by his other titles of “Minister for Ratepayers”, and the “Red Tape Minister”, because of his determination to make changes to local government and to cut back on the nanny state. This includes reducing beaurachracy over regulation and slashing red tape.
But perhaps his greatest challenge will be leading the upcoming local body reforms in the Auckland region, which will follow from the release of the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Auckland Governance.
The topic of Rodney’s address was ‘Institutions and quasi-constitutional mechanisms for better regulatory practice.’