2016 Postgraduate Research Grantees named

The grants are intended for new research that will promote debate and discussion on matters relating to Asia and New Zealand with implications for foreign and trade policy.

The 2017 round of postgraduate research grants opened 1 February.

Sophia Edwards: Pan-Asian Ethnicity in New Zealand and Australia

Sophia Edwards: Pan-Asian Ethnicity in New Zealand and Australia

Sophia is a doctoral student at Victoria University of Wellington, researching the emergence of pan-Asian ethnicity in Australia and New Zealand. Her study looks at interpersonal contacts between migrant groups in the host country and the home country as well as cultural awareness and societal understanding across borders. It also highlights the value of language fluency and cultural intelligence, which can be harnessed for foreign and trade policy purposes.

To date, her fieldwork on this topic has indicated a need for effective strategies to encourage and manage trade in services and intangibles, like education, particularly given the number of Asian international students choosing to study in New Zealand.

This grant will enables her to conduct fieldwork and interviews in Melbourne and Sydney, adding to data already collected in Wellington, Auckland and Brisbane.

Nicole Satherley: The demographic and social predictors of attitudes toward trade with Asian nations

Nicole Satherley: The demographic and social predictors of attitudes toward trade with Asian nations

Nicole is a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland. She is researching New Zealanders’ attitudes toward trade with Asian nations. Her work examines the rate of change in attitudes toward policies promoting greater trade with China and India, as well as the demographic and social predictors of these attitudes.

The Foundation’s perceptions of Asia 2015 report, for example, showed that around 90% of respondents thought opportunities for export to Asia would have a positive impact on New Zealand; in contrast, the percentage of respondents agreeing that New Zealand allowed too much investment from Asia has risen noticeably since 2013.

New Zealand’s economy is reliant on trade with Asia. Nicole notes that as these international relationships become more important over the coming years, so too will understanding and monitoring public opinion, which can have considerable impact on international relationships.

Nicole’s grant will go towards research expenses associated with analysing the data and writing the reports.

Sam Yoon: How is New Zealand is to increase its resilience against the adverse circumstances of a Chinese economic downturn?

Sam Yoon: How New Zealand can increase its resilience against the adverse circumstances of a Chinese economic downturn

Sam is a fourth year law and economics honours student at the University of Auckland. He recently spent his summer working at Treasury and at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Sam noted that there is a lot of research into China’s domestic situation, but no comprehensive analysis of the impact of this on New Zealand – especially as China’s default risk becomes an increasing problem for our future economic outlook. While Sam has identified a few pieces of research conducted by the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, these do not address the recent increase in the risk of a hard landing for China. Sam’s research will extend this knowledge and find relevant applications for current New Zealand policy makers.

The grant will assist Sam with his research in China, where he will be based at the Tsinghua University School of Finance.