Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item The role of small business in employment generation : a Manawatu study : a research paper presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University(Massey University, 1993) Sincharoenkul, ChindaratUnemployment rates in NZ have increased steadily throughout the recessionary period dating back to the early 1970s. This study, using both quantitative and qualitative anysis, examines what role small businesses can play in both regional and national economic revival. In the literature review it is demonstrated both internationally and regionally, that small businesses contribute significantly to employment opportunities during recessionary periods - far more than large firms. This was supported in a Manawatu study of 56 small businesses. Quantatively small firms in the region are, albeit slowly, expanding their workforces despite the economic climate. The chances of setting up a small firm are still not too difficult. Qualitatively these small businesses are found to be positive and dynamic environments. Nearly all respondents had little difficulty in retaining workers and all stated that the working environment was based on 'friendship and trust'.Thus small firms not only contribute to the quantitative expansion of employment but also significantly improve the qualitative nature of the workplace. Finally, while government assistance in the form of direct financial assistance, has not been significant in these findings, it is argued that the role of government policy is critical in the role and success of small enterprises in the economy.Item From job creation to training, 1840-1990 : a descriptive analysis of the development and demise of job creation policy as the mainstay of state responses to unemployment in New Zealand : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 1994) Mulengu, Andrew PunabantuNew Zealand, for much of the present century has been regarded by other English speaking nations as boldly experimenting in the development of social policy; but is currently taking the dismantling of the welfare state further than most western countries. This thesis provides a historical analysis of job creation for the unemployed, which was provided by the state on a relatively large scale (relative to the size of the New Zealand population), from the earliest days of colonisation in the 1840s until it was virtually phased out inthe mid-1980s. The thesis examines the competing ideas and interests which conditioned the adoption, growth, fluctuations in the eventual demise of job creation as the mainstay of the New Zealand state's responses to unemployment. In particular, it examines the impact of the various sets of ideas about work and human nature which were brought to New Zealand in the course of colonisation by the British; and the extent to which the colonisers were able to recreate patterns of work and dependency from Britain. The study of job creation in New Zealand is a history of conflict based on class interests. One task of the thesis is to show how the state has responded in different periods to demands from working men for the 'right to work'. However, it is also a history of the reinforcing of ancient divisions of labour along lines of gender and ethnicity, and of the relative privileging of 'pakeha' (white, European) men in terms of their access to paid work provided by the state. Job creation for the unemployed has been a site of both conflict and compromise between (mainly male) labour and capital throughout the post-colonisation period in New Zealand. This thesis provides an in-depth study of the ways in which such conflict and compromise contributed to the development, form and eventual demise of job creation in New Zealand.Item Transformation of the welfare state in New Zealand with special reference to employment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at Massey University(Massey University, 1997) De Bruin, Anne MargueriteThis study examines the transformation of New Zealand's welfare state in the movement to a new phase of capitalist development. It adopts a multi-level approach linking the global, national and local levels. The global level analysis provides the overall rationale for the development and subsequent restructuring of welfare states and reordering of the welfare mix more toward the market. At the national level, highlighting the collapse of its foundations, this study contends that New Zealand's welfare state has transformed into a 'well-being enabling state'. The goal of the well-being enabling state is to ensure private provision of welfare through labour market participation in a deregulated labour market, rather than through direct state provision. Employment policy, including policies for enhancement of human capital, are therefore discussed as 'enablers' of participation in paid employment and private procurement of well-being. At the local level, specific characteristics of the local labour market have to be included in the analysis. The need for community action for employment creation in order to respond to the challenges of the global economy and a transformed national welfare state, is a major theme of the study. A case study of community employment creation, conducted through a participatory research methodology, highlights the need for innovative local efforts for job creation at the micro or grassroots level. Local employment initiatives, especially those that build on a partnership approach and tap into the cultural wealth of the community through market-leading community entrepreneurship, are shown to be crucial to the mitigation of the current ethnic unemployment problem in New Zealand.