2002 Conference Papers

"Multiple job holding in New Zealand - a statistical profile"
- James Baines, James Newell and Nick Taylor

Paper presented at the Labour Employment and Work (LEW) conference in Wellington 21-22 November 2002.

This paper reports on research being conducted under a FRSTfunded research programme. The programme has two linked research objectives - (i) creating a quantitative profile of the incidence of multiple job holding in New Zealand; and (ii) investigating the dynamics of becoming a multiple job holder in New Zealand and the social consequences of multiple job holding. Organised around these two objectives, this programme of social research is investigating the role of multiple job holding as a positive change strategy for individuals, families and communities. It focuses particularly on factors that influence the adoption of multiple job holding by individuals, and the effects that a multiple job holding workstyle has on individuals, families and communities. The paper reports the findings of an initial statistical profile of the incidence of multiple job holding in New Zealand based on the 2001 census.

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"Why strategic IA is important for project-level IA"
- James Baines and Nick Taylor

Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment, The Hague, The Netherlands, 15-21 June, 2002.

In the practice of project-level SIA in New Zealand, a problem frequently arises due to the absence of strategic SIA at the level of policies and plans. Experiences are reviewed of SIA activities in a variety of settings - casino development, coastal development involving marine farms, and retail sector development. In many cases, issues are encountered through project-level SIA that really require attention at the level of policy or plan. This has the potential to create difficulties for decision makers working within the planning framework, for project proponents, and for practitioners of SIA. These difficulties are linked to issues of cumulative effects, the interpretation of sustainable development in a practical sense, and the responsibilities of public policy makers in setting the parameters for developers and communities to negotiate within.


"Business ownership in natural resource dependent industries of New Zealand"
- Wayne McClintock and Nick Taylor

Paper prepared for the 9th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management held at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. June 2-5, 2002.

Over the last 25 years the ownership of natural resource dependent industries in New Zealand for production and processing has become dominated by relatively few companies. With the scale of New Zealands natural resource dependent industries being comparatively small by international standards, the major companies in each sector have consolidated and expanded their operations by acquiring or merging with their rivals to maintain their international competitive advantage. This paper discusses changes in the ownership of businesses involved in the production and processing of natural resources across the sectors of forestry, agriculture, fishing, mining, energy and tourism and the implications for regional economic development. The results reported in the paper are based on a review of international and New Zealand literature, an analysis of official and industry statistics, and an examination of nineteen case studies of resource communities conducted during previous phases of the research programme.

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"Institutionalising SIA in rapidly developing economies - the Malaysian case"
- James Baines and Nick Taylor

Paper presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment, The Hague, The Netherlands, 15-21 June, 2002.

There are few opportunities to think comprehensively about the application of SIA within a countrys development framework. Set against an analysis of international experience and trends in the institutionalising SIA, this paper highlights some issues from a project to assess the needs for SIA and develop a vision for its application in Malaysia. The specific context is the institutionalising of SIA in a rapidly developing economy. The project team developed a strategic approach to the progressive adoption of SIA including recommendations on implementation, capacity building and training needs. The project itself emphasised capacity building through background papers and SIA case studies by local consultants under the guidance of international consultants and widely applicable practice guidelines. Lessons from development of SIA in countries such as Malaysia point to the need for stronger international linkages and a role for the IAIA, particularly to support in-country professional networks of SIA professionals, training resources and case studies, and professional guidelines and standards.


"The impacts of resource sector restructuring on occupational and community identity"
- Gerard Fitzgerald, C. Nicholas Taylor and Wayne McClintock

Paper prepared for IAIA ’02, the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment, Den Haag, The Netherlands, 17-21 June.

SIA is generally focussed on assessing the potential or actual effects of projects, programmes and policies in the shorter term. There are, however, important longer term impacts that can eventuate and require attention in strategic applications of SIA. This paper examines the longer-term social impacts of resource sector restructuring in rural New Zealand. Previous research showed that natural-resource based communities experienced a wide range of social impacts as a result of both government and private sector restructuring during last two decades. Ongoing research has focussed on changes in the inter-relationships between work, business ownership and transfer, and community change. Of particular interest is the transformation of work by new technology and management practices, with implications for occupational identity and community life. Individual and family work histories obtained from in-depth personal interviews are being used to identity and describe the changing nature of work in natural resource based production and processing industries. Individual experiences are analysed in the context of community change through community case studies. Of particular interest are changes in the way skills are developed and transferred by individuals and groups through families and community structures to reinforce occupational and community identity. Preliminary results show that industry restructuring, economic diversification and increased individual and occupational mobility have weakened occupational and community identity. These results will interest agencies, industry groups, training organisations, and facilitators of community-based development, who attempt a strategic approach to social and economic change.

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