List of Summer Scholarships Available: 2014/15
List of Summer Scholarships available: 2014/15
Please email the top three projects your area of study and degree, qualifies you for
to
with a filled out Student Undertaking form
before the deadline of Monday, 20th October, 5pm.
Do not bother emailing, if you are ineligible
(as per the rules of the Student guide to Summer Research Scholarships.)
We will make judgements based upon your study, your grades, any working relationship you may
have with an academic and this email.
If successful, we will contact you.
Good luck.
Empirical study on the prevalence of unfair contract terms in New Zealand online consumer contracts
Project description:This research will look at prevalence of unfair contract terms in New Zealand in online consumer contracts, ie contracts used by New Zealand e-traders that are supplying goods or services to consumers. Currently New Zealand has no law regulating the use of unfair contract terms; that will change, however, on 17 March 2015 when the unfair contract terms law (“UCTL”) comes into force. Australia has had an unfair contract terms law in place for 4 years and New Zealand’s UCTL is modelled on the Australian law, albeit there are some significant differences.The UCTL was enacted despite there being no empirical evidence of the prevalence of unfair contract terms in New Zealand; evidence from Australia was used to justify the introduction of the UCTL. The goal of this project is to determine whether unfair contract terms are being used by New Zealand e-traders. A broad range of industries will be looked at including telecommunication companies, airlines, rental vehicles and other e-traders. The research will also provide useful data for the Commerce Commission (the only body that will be able to challenge a term as being an unfair contract term under the UCTL) when it looks at enforcing the UCTL.The anticipated output will be an article on the prevalence of unfair contract terms in New Zealand. Equally, or even more importantly, the project will be vital for later work in this area as it will provide the base line of terms prior to the introduction of the UCTL. This baseline will allow us to assess at a later date whether the e-traders in this project and others in the same industries have changed their contracts to meet the UCTL’s requirements. (This would also provide the data for a more theoretical journal article on the impact of regulatory change.)
Role of Research Assistant: The student would locate the contracts of e-traders and analyse them to assess whether they contain unfair contract terms. This work will assist the student in honing their analytical skills. Once the analysis has taken place the student will work with the researcher to produce an article, this will assist the student in his or her writing skills and will result in he or she being a co-author of a journal article.
The Effect of Tax Policy on Corporate Capital Structure of International and Domestic Firms: Evidence from New Zealand
Project description:We propose to examine if NZ subsidiaries of offshore companies adopt different capital structure decisions (debt to equity ratios) compared to NZ domiciled and tax resident companies.This study is of interest for the following reasons:First, the introduction of dividend imputation in 1987 is expected to eliminate the bias against equity in a firm’s capital structure. However, imputation credits primarily benefit NZ tax resident investors. Thus, we would expect NZ domiciled firms to have a more conservative capital structure (greater proportion of equity) compared to NZ subsidiaries of offshore firms, which are owned predominantly by offshore investors.Second, we will seek to track if the introduction of the supplementary dividend tax regime, which provides partial “imputation” type benefits to offshore investors, has resulted in changes to the capital structure decision of NZ subsidiaries of offshore firms.Third, the Inland Revenue Department has imposed over time stricter thin capitalisation rules, which are intended to mitigate the tax minimisation practices of tax resident companies that belong to an international group. Therefore, reductions in debt financing for these companies are expected following these international tax policy changes. We will seek to analyse if / how these stricter rules on thin capitalisation may have impacted the capital structure decision of NZ subsidiaries of offshore firms.Overall the results of our study should be of interest to policy makers, the IRD and Government.
Role of Research Assistant: The student’s role would be as follows: Update the database on the Deloitte top NZ 100 companies for the period 2008 to current date.Collect data relevant to capital structure for NZ listed companies.Where applicable collect data on capital structure of the parent company of offshore subsidiaries.Under supervision assist in data analysis.Assist in write up of paper – the target Journal would be “New Zealand Journal of Taxation Law and Policy”.
On the development of financial literacy: what is financial ‘fitness’, ‘health’ and ‘well-being’?
Project description:The goal of the study is to develop a framework and provide common understanding around the words often used to define and explore financial fitness, financial health and wellbeing. The possibility of the use of a balanced scorecard to assess financial health will be investigated, after narrowing the scope of the balanced scorecard to suit the desired outcome.The methods of this research will involve a comprehensive literature review of financial literacy, health and communication literature. The study will move from qualitative to quantities methods over time once a theoretical framework is developed.The anticipated outputs of the study are a literature review and questionnaire design which will provide the background and foundation for a research paper and also outline a further project for an Honours, Masters Research topic or PhD topic, depending on scope.
Role of Research Assistant: The student will work on the project under supervision. The student will predominately work on preparing a literature review. The student will also help develop a research questionnaire and speak with other researchers in the field to gain insights to the theoretical background of this research area. The value of these roles will enable the student to gain essential skills to undertake research at the post graduate level from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective.
An exploration of agency costs and ownership structure in the New Zealand dairy farming industry
Project description: The goal of the study is to conduct an empirical investigation of how agency costs and ownership structure are related in dairy farming in New Zealand. New Zealand provides an excellent landscape to examine agency cost theory given the high concentration of owner occupied dairy farms, farm manager operated dairy farms and 50/50 share milking structures.The methods of this research will involve a literature review of agency and ownership structure and data collection from dairy-based research institutions, for example, Fonterra, DiaryNZ, and Statistics New Zealand.The anticipated outputs of the study is to obtain panel data from dairy farms in New Zealand and also the completion for a research proposal which will include the research question, literature review, data and methodology of this topic. If quality data can be collected over the period of the study the student may use this to form their Master’s thesis.
Role of Research Assistant: The student will work on the project under supervision. The student will predominately work on data collection and contact people in the dairy industry. The student will also help develop a literature review and design the research methodology for the research paper. The student will gain valuable insight to the research process from idea generation to data collection then to analysis and reporting of results.
Follow-up survey for Growing New Zealand Businesses (GNZB)
Project description: The aim of the GNZB project is to investigate growth and innovation patterns of New Zealand SMEs. A key part of the project is survey data from about 1900 NZ SMEs. This application is for the work on a follow-up survey relating to this project. The goal is to create a longitudinal dataset that allows to test strategic choices of NZ SMEs on time lagged dependent variables. Using longitudinal datasets is a standard in well ranked journals and for solid policy advice. The encouraging response rate to the first survey (almost 20%) provides an outstanding opportunity to create a longitudinal dataset that will yield more robust insights into the growth and internationalisation behaviour of NZ SMEs.As an outcome of this summer scholarship, we anticipate that the survey responses to the follow-up survey will have been entered and that some initial analysis on key questions will be completed. In the longer run, we hope that the dataset will yield further academic publications as well as enable us to continue to contribute to ongoing policy debates.Preparation for the survey is well under way. The sampling frame for the follow up survey has been prepared and the survey instrument is about to be piloted. Funding for the cost of conducting the survey will be provided by NZAI. This application is to support the researchers in creating the database and to provide an interesting opportunity for development to a student.
Role of Research Assistant:Under my supervision, the student will be involved in managing the incoming survey responses, data entry and intimal analysis using SPSS and STATA. During this project, the student would be gaining valuable skills in working with data and a good insight into the process of designing and conducting quantitative research. Moreover, the student will also learn basic skills in data management and data analysis. Building these skills will provide a good foundation for their postgraduate work.
Commercial Contracts Text
Project description: We are writing a student text on the New Zealand Law of Commercial Contracts. We have almost completed the book but it does need substantial editing and some updating. It is intended to be used to aid teaching of a COMLAW paper and to be specifically adapted to the material in that course and the way it is presented to students. We intend publishing the book through UniServices and online as part of a multi-pronged initiative to facilitate deep learning in this subject. However, we see the online service as the second part of this project.
Role of Research Assistant: The student’s role would be to help: in preparing the manuscript for electronic formatting, in locating and summarising cases decided after the manuscript was last updated, in devising problems and multi-choice questions that can be used for in-class assessment and, generally, in providing suggestions from a recent graduate/near graduate perspective.
Unfair Contract Terms Research
Project description: In 2015 new legislation will come into force in New Zealand dealing with unfair terms in contracts. This follows legislation in the UK a good number of years ago now along with a comparable EC Directive and Regulations passed in the UK to put the requirements of the EC Directive into force in the UK. There is also similar legislation in Australia.We have been studying these developments for a number of years in order better to understand public conceptions of unfairness in standard form contracts and to map out a more precise theoretical basis for the legislation outlined above.We would wish the results of this research to be published in a top ranked peer-reviewed journal and to form the basis of a public seminar at the University of Auckland at which will be present a Dean’s Distinguished Speaker, Prof. Howells from Hong Kong City Law School. Prof. Howells is a world leader in this area and has extensive knowledge of European thinking on the subject.
Role of Research Assistant: The student’s role would be to complete a literature review of travaux preparatoire and to assist, where appropriate, with qualitative coding of data.
Award Giving in Organisations
Project description: Two academics have completed an empirical study understanding in how development and implementation of innovation awards were used in strategizing in a professional service firm. The paper wrote was from an ‘A’ journal was rejected with reviewer feedback saying there were two main ideas that should be divided into two more focussed papers.An MIB professor provided additional comments to help develop the two main ideas and one of the areas identified as requiring more work was the notion around award giving in organisations.Used to recognize, provide incentive or compensation (Frey, 2007), and celebrate achievement, innovation awards can shift individuals’ attention towards, or away from, activities that are of strategic importance to the firm (Frey, 2006; Wilford, 2007). However, “there is relatively little empirical evidence on the results or impacts of innovation awards, and whether those who receive them continue to innovate, or whether others are motivated to innovate themselves” (Rosenblatt, 2011, p. 217).The goal is this project is to develop the main idea about award giving and re-position it as a complete paper focused on the intended and unintended consequences of award giving over time for submission to Human Relations. We want to submit the revised version of the paper to the International Symposium on Process Organization Studies since our papers fit well with their 2015 and papers presented there regularly feed into Human Relations. Submissions for the symposium are due 31st January, 2015, so we actively seek a student who can complete at least 120 hours before the Christmas break.
Role of Research Assistant:The student’s role is to:identify all papers in the Management andOrganisation/organization Studies (MOS) journals that address awarding giving. Starting with A* and A journals, then working through the B journals; import them into Zotero bibliographic software; read and categorise each paper by the theory/ used to explain award-giving as an organisational or individual (behavioural) phenomena or the context; summarise the themes within the categories in 1-2 pages from theme and a 1-2 page summary on the context studies.
Regulation of state owned enterprises (SOEs) under trade agreements
Project description: State ownership of business enterprises has long been a controversial and ideologically charged issue, as the partial privatisation of New Zealand electricity generators over the last year showed. Where enterprises compete in international markets there has long been a concern that state ownership may distort competition and have an advantage over privately owned enterprises. The increasing number of Chinese SOEs in the Fortune 500 and the cross-border activities of Russian SOEs such as Gazprom in Europe have renewed interest in strengthening the international regulation of SOEs.The WTO contains fairly limited rules on the conduct of SOEs. These date back to the formation of the GATT in 1947. Other trade agreements have contained more extensive rules. In ongoing trade negotiations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, some countries have sought to negotiate stronger disciplines on SOEs. The negotiations have been controversial.It is hoped that the research will identify: (1) the extent to which the conduct of SOEs are subject of specific rules in trade agreements; (2) the extent and circumstances in which SOEs have advantages over other enterprises; (3) what, if any, specific rules should govern the conduct SOEs to address concerns that SOEs have unfair advantages in competition with others enterprises.
Role of Research Assistant:The student will work with the researcher to develop a paper which answers these questions. A consequence of this will be the potential for significant development in the student’s: (1) understanding of international trade agreements, in particular the regulation of SOEs; (2) appreciation of the extent to which SOEs may behave differently to other enterprises when they operate in international markets; and (3) research and writing skills.
Meta-Analysis Of Employee Downsizing Research
Project description:This project aims to provide the foundations for a meta-analysis of the employee downsizing research that, together with a mentor, have reviewed qualitatively and subsequently published in the Journal of Management and 2 book chapters. Based on our review of the extant literature, no meta-analysis of the employee downsizing research has been undertaken to date. Thus, it is expected that output from this project will be well-received for presentation in a major conference (Academy of Management or Academy of International Business) in 2016 and possibly, for publication in A/A* journals such as Journal of Management.
Role of Research Assistant:Student will be tasked to code studies that have been identified in my previous paper/book chapters into a database that will become the basis of the meta-analysis for the study. At the onset, the student will be given an overview of the meta-analysis methodology. Together with the practical experience of developing the database for meta-analysis, the student will have a good preview of meta-analysis as a statistical tool that can become part of their statistical tool kit for use in their future research project/dissertation.