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Item Experiences of precarity for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-04-30) Martin, AhnyaSocioeconomic precarity and in-work poverty are associated with increased exposure to ill-health and untimely death. Presently in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), there are many conversations in public discourse about the precariat, or people experiencing in-work poverty, and what “they” need. There are fewer conversations with households experiencing precarity to understand the insecurities they face in relation to inadequate incomes and associated insecurities in housing, food, and leisure, and how various policies designed by more affluent groups frustrate or improve their precarious situations. Successive governments have continued to act without adequate dialogue with the precariat, with less than desirable outcomes. These outcomes are particularly stark for Māori who as a result of ongoing processes and the legacies of colonisation are overrepresented within the precariat. Understanding precarity for Māori from the perspectives of those who are directly impacted is imperative if we are to ensure policy measures are successful in preventing and alleviating in-work poverty. This thesis contributes to current Indigenous efforts to theorise the contemporary and lived experiences of precarity for Māori. I have approached precarity as a cultural and economic assemblage that can be reassembled to enhance the lives of members of the precariat. Speaking to methodological pluralism, I have employed a qualitative methodology of enhanced interviewing using mapping and photo elicitation guided by Kaupapa Māori (KM) praxis to enact this culturally centred approach that is informed by tikanga (protocols/customs) Māori. Four consecutive engagements with one Cook Island Māori and nine Māori households (40 interviews in total) informed the development of various policy initiatives to address issues of precarity. Chapter 1 serves to historicise and situate the evolution of precarity within Aotearoa NZ: particularly for Māori. Chapter 2 (Publication 1) reflects on this application of KM praxis to document and respond to the everyday experiences of households living in precarity in Aotearoa NZ. I outline the relationally ethical and community-engaged methodology informed by key cultural principles which I have employed in my research design and fieldwork. The findings inform my recommendations for policy which responds to household needs. The third chapter (Publication 2) draws on assemblage theory to document the participants’ everyday experiences of precarity and how policy initiatives emerge as key elements within the everyday lives of the precariat. The fourth chapter (Publication 3) shifts the focus to householders’ engagement in leisure as they cope with and respond agentively to situations of precarity. I document how core Māori principles and processes of whanaungatanga (cultivating positive relationships) and manaakitanga (caring for self and others) are foregrounded in household engagements in contemporary leisure practices. Overall, this thesis contributes to current Indigenous theorising of precarity by providing insights into the lived experiences of the consequences of policy efforts to alleviate the multifaceted insecurities associated with household precarity. Recommendations to inform policy settings are outlined at the final discussion chapter.Item Impacts of shocks and coping strategies of vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka during COVID-19 pandemic : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agriculture and Rural Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-11-22) Rathnayake, Sanduni Anuththara KumariOver time, smallholders in developing countries, including those in Sri Lanka, face a variety of shocks and develop coping strategies in response. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a novel shock to many farm households in developing countries, often negatively impacting their livelihoods. This exploratory qualitative case study provides a comprehensive study on the impact of the pandemic on Sri Lankan smallholder vegetable farm households and their coping strategies. Data were collected from vegetable farm households and key informants in Nuwaraeliya and Kandy districts, mainly using the interview method and data were analysed qualitatively. Vegetable farm households in Sri Lanka faced multiple, diverse shocks characterised by cumulative, consecutive, interrelated, and ongoing events during the pandemic. This mix of shocks resulted in various impacts on vegetable farm households, but the common outcome on all households was f inancial due, in the main, to increased household costs and decreased household income. Farm households that predominantly depended on income from vegetable selling and farm households that produced only specialised types of vegetables for specialised markets were more adversely affected than others. Smallholder vegetable farm households were diverse in circumstances, production and marketing systems, household capitals, reliance on vegetables as an income source and livelihood activity. At any point in time different strategies related to production, marketing and financial hardships were being used by farm households to respond to the impacts of shocks they experienced. However, there was no consistent mix of strategies. The poorest continued to borrow, while others relied on savings and assets and then started to borrow when resources were depleted. How similar strategies were implemented varied across households depending on the social networks of households. While acknowledging the benefit of diversification for farm households during shocks, this study also illustrates that diversification does not guarantee that it will support farm households in buffering the impacts during a wide-scale shock that extends over a long period. However, market diversification supports farm households to buffer the impacts of shocks with broad-scale impacts. This study also identified the significance of individual household members’ personal characteristics such as motivation and enthusiasm in developing strategies and argues for including this attribute in human capital in the sustainable livelihood framework. Research insights strongly suggest that interventions intended to support farm households in buffering the impacts of shocks need to focus on the household level, prioritising the poorest of the poor while remaining open to addressing the needs of other farm households who might be wealthier but adversely affected by shocks. Providing direct financial support and implementing different financial services to accommodate the varied circumstances of farm households will benefit them during shocks. Interventions to build household and local community resilience will safeguard farm households as it will exclude the risk of overreliance on external government support.Item The impact of residential property investors on house price escalation in Auckland, New Zealand : research report in fulfillment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in Property, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-07-24) White, David JonAffordability and home ownership in Auckland New Zealand has been in decline over the past decade. Since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, house affordability has decreased at an unprecedented rate, largely attributed to house price escalation with some mitigation from wage growth and interest rate decreases. The decline in the affordability of owner-occupation compared to renting has been particularly pronounced in Auckland and this has led to a decline in home ownership and political interest in the role of investors that could contribute to price escalation. This perceived role of investors has resulted in policy changes aimed at discouraging speculation. This research investigates the pricing decisions of investors in the Auckland housing market and the link to house price escalation and affordability of housing. This research investigates whether this sustained escalation in prices can be explained by bounded rationality in pricing decisions by comparison to a normative model. The methodology adopted is a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative methods are used to gather the stated preference of investors in relation to their investment motivations and pricing decisions was obtained via structured interviews with investors and institutional influencers, with reference to behavioural economic concepts and frameworks. Quantitative methods are used to quantify at the aggregate market level the deviation from normative pricing, and to quantify for explanatory purposes those components of pricing decisions that contribute to overpricing, using the user-cost equilibrium model. It is concluded that investors are inclined to over-price houses compared to what is predicted by a normative model, largely due to an over-estimation of capital gain expectations and an under-estimation of systemic risks. This over-estimation of capital gain expectation is self-reinforcing and leads to sustained over-pricing which influences the market in aggregate and therefore house price escalation.Item Essays on stock price crashes : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University(Massey University, 2024-03-29) Roy, SuvraThis thesis comprises three essays that contribute to the literature on the consequences of stock price crashes. Essay One explores the post-crash responses of managers, the motives behind those responses, and the effects of those management responses on shareholders. The essay finds that managers of the crashed firms change their course of action to regain the trust of investors and improve firm value. Managers shift their attention towards enhancing transparency, optimizing investments, resolving internal conflicts, and investing in social capital and employee well-being. These initiatives contribute to enhancing the firm's value. Furthermore, this research proposes that management engages in these measures with consideration for their job security. Essay Two investigates the extent to which firm systematic risk changes following stock price crashes. It shows that stock price crashes result in increased systematic risk. This is evident across firms with both low and high betas. The higher systematic risk following a crash primarily stems from heightened default risk and results in equity financing becoming more expensive. Essay Three examines whether a firm price crash leads to the returns of the firm’s non-crash peer firms co-moving more with the returns of the market. The essay finds that this does occur. Investors focus more on firms that have experienced a crash while paying less attention to their non-crashed peer firms. This suggests that the investor trading behavior of these peer firms relies less on specific stock-related news and more on general market trends. The essay does not find any evidence to consider internal as well as external monitoring and information asymmetry as possible mechanisms of investor distraction. Overall, these essays provide contributions to the literature on stock price crash risk, financial markets, and corporate risk management. The thesis highlights how stock price crashes impact management responses, systematic risk, and the behavior of non-crashing peer firms, offering valuable insights for managers, investors, and market regulators to manage and respond to such events effectively. The thesis suggests that managers need to ensure their actions are taken post-crashes and potentially even before to prevent adverse events. Increased firm beta post-crash affects equity financing, portfolio management, risk assessment, and hedging decisions. Understanding firms’ systematic risk holds implications for managers, portfolio managers, and market regulators to manage firm systematic risk effectively. This thesis also documents a new source of return co-movement distinct from market-level shocks.Item An analysis of determinants of construction firm performance : a New Zealand perspective : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Construction Management, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Wahid, IsrarThis research explores the factors critical for the performance of construction firms. It explores Strategic Management principles in terms of Contingency Theory (CT) to understand construction firm performance. CT considers the interactions of Internal Organisational Attributes and contextual factors (business environment uncertainties) in explaining firm’s performance. The rationale of the research comes from the lack of literature on the factors explaining the performance differentials for construction firms in New Zealand and within the field of Construction Management (CM) in general. The critical identified Internal Organisation attributes are ‘Dynamic Capabilities (DC)’, ‘Competitive Strategies (CS)’, ‘Organisation structure (OS)’ and ‘Resources and Capabilities (RC)’. The relationship between the internal attributes, their interaction with the business environment and the influence of such interactions on firm performance is the main aim of this research. The research uses a mixed-methods approach, including a questionnaire survey and three case studies, to examine the relationship between identified attributes and business environment. The findings of the study suggest that all the considered constructs are important in explaining firm performance. However, in most cases the relationship in not linear or direct. DC and CS have a significant impact on firm performance, and in an uncertain business environments firms equipped with DC will outperform those without DC. However, OS and RC do not have a direct effect on performance, rather an indirect effect. OS aids in successful pursuit of CS, which in turn leads to enhanced performance. Similarly, RC are necessary to support successful CS adoption, which in turn leads to superior performance. The study contributes to the existing literature by presenting novel conceptual models and providing industry practitioners with an understanding of how to improve firm performance through validated conceptual models. It adds to theory by explaining the interaction of organisational contingencies (DC, OS, CS), Business Environment Dynamism and Firm Performance. It also presents novel conceptual models for hypothesis testing, that explain the interaction of organisation internal attributes and external business environments, which have not been tested before. Moreover, the research also gives industry practitioners an understanding of what is required to achieve sustained performance in uncertain business conditions in forms of validated models that formulate operational strategies which are effective. For industry professionals, the study establishes the importance of developing strong dynamic capabilities by construction firms, adopting multiple competitive strategies (Hybrid strategies), and an alignment of their Organisation Structure, Competitive Strategy and Resources to achieve some tangible results for performance enhancement. Neglecting such a strategic fit can significantly hinder the firm performance.Item Essays on investment in the Chinese art market : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Yuan, YueThe growing significance of investing in Chinese painting and calligraphy (hereinafter: Chinese art) has garnered widespread attention from scholars, investors, and collectors. This dissertation comprises three essays that delve into the Chinese art market. It first explores the price determinants and investment performance of Chinese art; second, the potential of art investment for portfolio diversification; and finally, the informational content of pre-sale estimates in terms of accuracy and uncertainty. Essay 1 examines the price determinants and investment performance of Chinese art. The study utilizes 165,847 lots sold executed by 533 Chinese artists between 2000 and 2017. Using hedonic regression, this study constructs the Chinese art price index, and finds that the artwork’s attributes, such as proof of authenticity, types of mounting, and large-scale auction months, have a significantly positive impact on prices. It also reveals two distinct art market booms in 2005 and 2011, with the latter reaching a record peak. Moreover, the average holding period for Chinese art is approximately 3 years, much shorter than the 10-year average in Western art markets. This indicates that the Chinese art market exists in speculative activity. This underscores the necessity for art market participants in China to be aware of the risk associated with art investment, as art is not necessarily for art’s sake. This study comprehensively analyses hedonic attributes’ impact on prices, offering valuable insights for constructing Chinese art-price indices and assessing respective returns. It is a key resource for those keen to deeply understand the Chinese art market. Essay 2 investigates the potential diversification benefits of investing in Chinese art based on a unique dataset of 4,840 repeat transaction pairs from 2003 to 2021. Using the repeat-sale regression, it finds a semiannual art return of 6.18%, which outperforms all other investment assets and has a lower standard deviation than equities. To assess the diversification role of Chinese art, correlation analysis, the capital asset pricing model, and downside beta are employed. The study finds that Chinese art exhibits a low or negative correlation with common financial assets and a negative market beta when the Shanghai composite stock index and Shenzhen composite stock index are used as market returns, indicating its efficacy as a diversification instrument. Additionally, Chinese art can act as a hedge against domestic stock market downturns in a diversified portfolio. Furthermore, the study adopts mean-variance portfolio optimization to assess the potential advantages of incorporating Chinese art into investment portfolios. The results show that the efficient frontier that includes Chinese art is superior to those without such an inclusion. Moreover, the inclusion of Chinese art enhances the overall utility of the portfolio across all degrees of risk aversion, as evidenced by the power utility optimization. Supplementary tests show that portfolios on the efficient frontier with Chinese art outperform the equal-weighted portfolio, and that the efficient frontier with Chinese art is superior to the efficient frontier without Chinese art during periods of underperformance in the domestic stock market. In conclusion, this study underscores the potential benefits of portfolio diversification through investing in Chinese art, thereby making a valuable contribution to the existing literature on art-related portfolio diversification strategies. Essay 3 investigates the impact of certain variables on the informational content of pre-sale estimates in terms of accuracy and uncertainty. Using a sample of 191,102 artwork executed by 533 Chinese artists from 2000 to 2021, the study reveals that factors, such as artists’ mentorship experience, the proof of authenticity, the large-scale auction months, and past-sale records, can either improve or diminish the accuracy and uncertainty of pre-sale estimates in predicting the hammer prices. This finding enriches the extant literature on the reliability of pre-sale price predictions in the art market. Moreover, it offers valuable insights for auction houses seeking to reduce prediction errors. The study further uncovers that the impact of these factors varies across price distributions, suggesting that auctioneers could utilize specific variables to enhance the accuracy of pre-sale estimates tailored to different price segments. Additionally, this study also finds that auction houses with artist-specific experience are more likely to offer precise pre-sale estimates, while they are less optimistic about reducing the uncertainty of pre-sale estimates. The study contributes to the literature on art economics by examining the extent to which auction houses can influence the outcomes of art auctions.Item Use of New Zealand native browse shrubs on sheep and beef hill country farms : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science at the School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Wangui, James ChegeSheep and beef cattle farming on hill country through the historic clearing of native vegetation for pasture has caused biodiversity loss and increased the risk of soil erosion. Exotic tree species such as poplar and radiata pine can be used to control erosion, but there is current interest in using native plants on the hill country for indigenous biodiversity restoration in addition to erosion control. However, there is limited information on the forage value, biomass, carbon stock, and potential economic impacts of native plants compared to exotics species. This thesis was aimed to address the lack of information available on native shrubs and their comparison to exotics trees and shrubs. The forage feeding value results revealed that native shrubs had consistent nutritional composition across seasons, higher metabolizable energy, and lower crude protein than the exotic shrub Salix schwerinii (Kinuyanagi). Findings on in vitro fermentation characteristics showed that native shrubs were highly digestible, yielded higher volatile fatty acids, microbial proteins, and greenhouse gases than S. schwerinii. Estimation of biomass revealed that the native shrubs were similar in aboveground biomass accumulation, but differed in allocation to foliage, branch, and stem. Melicytus ramiflorus (Mahoe) had lower foliage biomass while Coprosma robusta (Karamū) had lower branch biomass, among the evaluated shrubs. Estimated carbon stock accumulation was higher for Pittosporum crassifolium (Karo) due to a greater woodier portion (branch and stem) than M. ramiflorus and C. robusta but lower than exotic trees. The data from the native shrub studies was used in the bioeconomic model and showed that planting native shrubs or radiata pine on steep slopes equal to 10% of the farm area would reduce farm feed supply. This reduction would result in a decrease in sheep flock size and sheep flock net cashflow, particularly with higher planting rates and with of radiata pine. While radiata pine had a surplus overall farm net cashflow, native shrubs had negative cashflow due to high seedling costs and low carbon income, making their use on the farm currently unprofitable at the modelled prices. The study's findings suggest that replacing exotic trees with native shrubs can provide high-quality summer browse for livestock. The decision to plant native shrubs on steep hill country slopes would depend on the farmer’s financial situation and interest in biodiversity conservation and profits. However, reducing planting costs and increasing the carbon price would be necessary to make investing in native shrubs profitable and more attractive to farmers.Item Identifying characteristics and drivers of the maize value chain in Shan State, Myanmar : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Agribusiness at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Htoo, KyanAs an agrarian country, Myanmar’s economy largely relies on the agriculture sector. Maize is the second most important cereal crop after rice in Myanmar in terms of growing area and export volume and value. Maize is not a staple food crop, but is grown primarily for export and domestic poultry production. Shan State is the most important region for maize in Myanmar, and about 50% of the total maize growing area is in this State. It was expected that the maize-growing areas continue to increase as there were no better alternative crops for maize farmers in Southern Shan State, despite challenges such as the unpredictable dominant export market and price fluctuations. However, there had been little knowledge of why there was a robust growth of maize amid the challenges. A single case study approach was applied to explore the characteristics of the maize value chain and the factors influencing the chain. In this study, the qualitative method was used to learn how and why the maize value chain in Shan State was performing as it did. In this respect, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the answers to those questions. Taunggyi township, a major maize township in Southern Shan State, was selected as the primary research area, whereas other types of actors from other townships throughout the chain were also selected to be interviewed as research participants. For example, exporters from Muse in Northern Shan State exporting maize to China via cross-border trade, key informants from Muse Commodity Exchange Centre, an exporter from Yangon who dealt with overseas exports, and an exporter from Yangon who exports maize to Thailand via cross-border trade were interviewed. Purposive and snowballing sampling methods were applied to select participants. The thematic analysis method was used to analyse the collected data. Despite price fluctuations, maize farmers were willing to continue to grow and increase the area of maize grown because of the certainty of the market for maize and the relative uncertainty of markets for other potential alternative crops. In addition, maize had a relatively low labour demand, easy access to improved varieties of maize and limited access to improved varieties of other alternative crops, easy access to credit, mechanization, and suitability for large-scale production. Therefore, the growth of maize production is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. The price farmers received for maize fluctuated significantly, yet remained relatively high compared to other crops, and remained certain. The Shan State maize market relied strongly on an unstable dominant export market which accounted for close to 90% of Myanmar maize exported to the Chinese market. In the 2018-2019 season (at the time of data collection) the border trade with China stalled in large part due to policies of the Chinese Government, and there was an expectation that market access would resume. During the period when access to the dominant export market was stopped, the demand for maize was stabilised through domestic maize buyers buffering the stock of maize and because of the emergence of an alternative export market. This provided maize farmers with the certainty of market. Furthermore, an international company, which has a significant stake in the maize value chain in Myanmar influenced the access to the alternative export market. Informal relationships were dominant between the actors throughout the maize value chain in Shan State. Most transactions between the actors were informal and based on reciprocity. Local wholesalers provided credit to farmers who sold their maize to the wholesaler. Most large-scale farmers stored maize at their wholesalers’ storage houses. Both informal and formal agreements existed between wholesalers and feed factories and/or exporters. However, if there was a risk associated with a formal contract, particularly due to price fluctuation, wholesalers helped each other to mitigate the risk in an informal way based on their social relationships. Even the transactions between foreign buyers and the exporters from cross-border trade were made mainly through informal agreements. Only formal agreements were used for the transactions between foreign buyers and the exporters from the emerging and relatively small overseas trade. Informal relationships reduced risks, transaction costs, and the amount of investment capital in trading maize. There was a tremendous growth of maize in Myanmar over a couple of decades despite a lack of Government support. There was no Government policy specific to the maize sector, whereas there were general policies or rules and regulations for the whole agriculture sector, which probably had impacts on the maize industry. This was probably because maize is not a staple food crop in Myanmar like rice. Moreover, there were no formal quality standards for maize. However, despite some issues, transactions of maize were carried out quite smoothly because the domestic and international cross-border markets, which were major markets for Myanmar maize, did not necessarily require it, except for overseas export markets. This study identified some important potential areas to be improved by policy interventions. First, formal quality standards should be set for the stable market access of the maize sector. Second, the formal banking sector should practice flexible repayment schedules for better convenience for the farmers. Moreover, the formal banking sector should focus on small-scale farmers as they had more difficult access to informal credit than large-scale farmers. Third, the Myanmar Government should take account of a policy, which facilitates the improvement of infrastructures such as roads, drying machines, and storage facilities for reducing transaction costs and improving the quality of maize. In this way, the Government policy will support the sustainable development of the maize sector.Item Assembling the land of milk and money : the work of money in New Zealand’s dairy industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Mouat, Michael JamesAcademic and media narratives about the New Zealand dairy industry have reinforced a portrayal which emphasises its steady, almost inevitable evolution into ‘the backbone’ of New Zealand’s export economy. In these narratives rising export revenues have been taken as proof of the valuableness of the dairy industry. However, in this thesis I argue that these currently prevalent understandings of the dairy industry uncritically accept a definition of money as just being a commodity that simply facilitates exchange and measures value. Drawing on my concept of moneyness, my thesis re-investigates money as a form of work and contributes to a different understanding of the dairy industry that re-narrates it as an effect of the way this money work practically assembles and reassembles sets of relations. My moneyness analysis highlights how previously inconspicuous relations became stabilised through the work of tax, loans, and shares, by following moments of controversy to where the way money and the dairy industry worked were practically changed. The work of tax shows how solving the problem of state revenue also translated value into other relations which made the early dairy industry valuable as a sterling accumulation machine. The work of loans shows how the dairy industry became creditable because of the way relations between the state, financial system and dairy industry have been maintained. The work of shares shows how overcoming various problems has arranged and re-arranged cooperative dairy industry value, making it stably commensurable with national value. The effect is to present a historical arc of New Zealand’s dairy industry as characterised by a dynamism that is locally arranged and historically adaptable. The thesis concludes that the creative practices of moneyness have continually stabilised the dairy industry, not in spite of disruptions but because of them.Item Direct economic losses of oil spills in populated and remote locations within New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Egan, Alexandra L.New Zealand is an island nation with an extensive coastline, leading to very high use of its coastal marine environment for recreational activities, tourism, and fishing. Because of this, pollution events such as oil spills, can negatively impact coastal activities, and therefore both the economic gains and the welfare of those who utilise it. Pollution events associated with the marine environment are likely to impact direct use values of recreation, tourism, and fisheries. This research aimed to estimate the direct costs associated with oil spills in populated and remote marine locations within New Zealand. To represent a populated area, the Coastal Bay of Plenty (from Mount Maunganui to Maketu), New Zealand, was selected. This area was the site of the MV Rena oil spill in 2011, which is still considered New Zealand’s largest oil spill. For this area an estimation of direct use losses was obtained by looking at the pre- and post- spill values for fisheries and tourism in the short term, as well as including the clean-up and restoration costs. Additionally, surveys were conducted along this stretch of beach, which was the most impacted by the MV Rena oil spill, to estimate the loss in recreational value using combined revealed and stated preference techniques of the travel cost and contingent behaviour methods. Fiordland National Park, specifically Milford Sound, SW South Island New Zealand, was chosen as the second site to represent a remote location within New Zealand. Similarly, the combined techniques of travel cost and contingent behaviour surveys were carried out here to estimate the recreational value of the area, and the potential loss in the event of an oil spill occurring in Milford Sound. This survey differed from the Coastal Bay of Plenty survey to account for the unique nature of this site. Additionally, I estimated the probable impacts of an oil spill to the tourism and fishing industries, as well as the possible clean-up costs based on various likely lengths of an oil spill response. The findings from this research contribute to the limited direct economic studies done on oil spills globally, but particularly in New Zealand and the South Pacific. The direct costs associated with the MV Rena can be estimated conservatively at NZD (2021) 99.06-115.38 million (low end not including accommodation), and potential direct costs in a remote area such as Milford Sound can be estimated at a minimum of NZD (2021) 140.235-770.177 million using pre-COVID visitor numbers (low end not including accommodation). It is important to understand the various costs that may be associated with past and future oil spills within New Zealand due to its relatively small economy, and the value that the coastal environment has to its people. Estimating these losses can help inform New Zealand coastal and marine policies, ensuring that as a country New Zealand is suitably and adequately prepared in the event of an oil spill occurring again, therefore minimising not only the economic consequences, but the environmental damages as well.