Selected Econometric Models of Social Capital Formation in New Zealand
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis examines the factors contributing to the formation of social capital in New Zealand from three distinct angles. Each of these angles concerns a form of geographically referenced investment, either by individuals through settlement post-migration or their homeownership, or by local government investing in local social infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to provide the first empirical analysis of social capital formation within New Zealand and to contribute to the existing body of international literature on the subject in areas which have as yet received little or no attention. The first aspect considered is the relationship between homeownership and social capital formation. Prior studies suggest that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. However, many of these studies find it difficult to control adequately for personal attributes that may be correlated with homeownership while also impacting on social capital formation. The New Zealand Quality of Life survey provides data that enable analysis that controls for these selection effects with propensity score matching methods, while also benchmarking the results by means of regression methods. The results confirm that homeownership exerts positive impacts on the formation of social capital. Concurrently, homeownership demands greater accountability of local government and leads to reduced satisfaction with local government performance – thereby negatively bringing impact upon community social capital. Hence these two dimensions of housing-related social capital work in opposite directions from each other, a finding which has not been previously observed. The role of immigration in social capital formation in New Zealand is the second aspect considered, an important issue for New Zealand given that a quarter of the population was born overseas. Using cross-sectional data from two separate surveys, the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey and the 2008 New Zealand Genera…
abstract: This thesis examines the factors contributing to the formation of social capital in New Zealand from three distinct angles. Each of these angles concerns a form of geographically referenced investment, either by individuals through settlement post-migration or their homeownership, or by local government investing in local social infrastructure. The aim of this thesis is to provide the first empirical analysis of social capital formation within New Zealand and to contribute to the existing body of international literature on the subject in areas which have as yet received little or no attention. The first aspect considered is the relationship between homeownership and social capital formation. Prior studies suggest that homeownership is positively related to social capital formation. However, many of these studies find it difficult to control adequately for personal attributes that may be correlated with homeownership while also impacting on social capital formation. The New Zealand Quality of Life survey provides data that enable analysis that controls for these selection effects with propensity score matching methods, while also benchmarking the results by means of regression methods. The results confirm that homeownership exerts positive impacts on the formation of social capital. Concurrently, homeownership demands greater accountability of local government and leads to reduced satisfaction with local government performance – thereby negatively bringing impact upon community social capital. Hence these two dimensions of housing-related social capital work in opposite directions from each other, a finding which has not been previously observed. The role of immigration in social capital formation in New Zealand is the second aspect considered, an important issue for New Zealand given that a quarter of the population was born overseas. Using cross-sectional data from two separate surveys, the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey and the 2008 New Zealand Genera…
author: Roskruge, Matthew James
keywords: Economics, Social Capital, Home ownership, Infrastructure, Migration, New Zealand, Econometrics
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/6cad328b-64fa-4f5a-88fa-fc6b4e862034/download
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:21Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Waikato