Bryce is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative and the Director of the Wellington-based economic consultancy firm Capital Economics.
Prior to setting up his consultancy in 1997, he was director, and shareholder in First NZ Capital. Before moving into investment banking in 1985, he worked in the New Zealand Treasury, reaching the position of Director.
Bryce holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Canterbury and was a Harkness Fellow at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the Law and Economics Association of New Zealand.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
Child abuse is a shameful thing. It occurs to a disquieting degree. Read more
Should the owner of Lochinver Station, the Stevenson Group, have the right to sell it to the Crown at the Shanghai Pengxin bid price of $88 million? In that case, the Crown could (and should) immediately sell the station to the highest bid from a New Zealander. Read more
In March this year, the Prime Minister spoke at our members' retreat in Auckland. Members took the opportunity to express concerns about specific regulatory imposts for which there seemed to be inadequate justification. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson on Radio NZ: Blocked sale of station may worry other investors Read more
Question: Do the likely benefits from the Health & Safety Reform Bill (or any other Bill) exceed the costs? Answer 1: They do if you hire the right economist Answer 2: They do if you assume the benefits are large enough to exceed the costs Public policy decisions have to be made on some basis. Read more
The current issue of Policy Quarterly, published by Victoria University of Wellington, has a special focus on Budget 2015. It kicks off with an article by New Zealand Children's Commissioner, Richard Wills. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson on Radio NZ: Largest foreign investor in NZ revealed. Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson of The New Zealand Initiative discusses KPMG's Foreign Direct Investment analysis on TVNZ Breakfast, 17 August 2015. Read more
Central government is squandering billions of dollars of householders’ income. It is doing so simply because it lacks the incentive to assess value for money with sufficient rigour. Read more
This week we released a research report, A Matter of Balance: Regulating Safety. It looked into the costs and benefits of Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) campaign to reduce workplace injuries from falls from heights of less than 3 metres in residential construction. Read more
The construction industry has made some substantial and laudable moves towards better safety practices. But recent changes in WorkSafe regulations, mandating extensive and expensive scaffolding for roof repairs and new builds adds, indicatively, from two to seven thousand dollars per project. Read more
The Kapiti News reported on 17 June 2015 that lower water consumption following the advent of water metering "now means a pricing increase to recover the costs" of piped water supply. Considerable local scoffing ensued. Read more
Auckland City, Auckland house prices. Politically, that is the government's most immediate local government issue. Read more
This week, The New Zealand Initiative released a report assessing social impact bonds in a New Zealand context. The report identifies both opportunities and challenges. Read more
This report explains the concept of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), its application worldwide, and its potential in New Zealand. SIBs are a new and innovative means of financing and delivering social services through the private sector, where the government usually only pays for what works. Read more