About the NZAE

The New Zealand Association of Economists was founded in 1959 and has five constitutional objects:

• To promote collaboration and discussion among professional economists in New Zealand;
• To encourage research and to publish the results of that research and other relevant material;
• To obtain and disseminate information on research projects in progress or anticipated;
• To promote the profession of economics in New Zealand; and
• To foster in all sections of the community interest in and understanding of New Zealand economic problems.

In pursuit of these objectives the Association each year publishes newsletters, organises conferences and publishes its professional journal New Zealand Economic Papers. The Association also sponsors several annual prizes, including the Distinguished Fellows Award and the Jan Whitwell Prize, awarded at the annual conference.

Because the Association’s constitution forbids it from making any statements on economic policy it is able to provide a neutral but effective forum for the analysis and debate of a wide range of economic issues. The conferences are a useful way of keeping up to date with the latest developments in economic thought. A feature in recent years has been the presence of distinguished overseas economists invited by the Association to speak on their area of expertise.

There are approximately 350 members of the Association. Membership is primarily open to those who have a degree in economics or commerce, and/or those who in the normal course of work use the tools of economic analysis as teachers, investigators or advisers on economic matters. The annual member subscription is NZ$120.00 (GST inclusive) for full membership; NZ$120.00 for overseas members; and NZ$60.00 (GST inclusive) for New Zealand graduate students (first year only). The Association’s journal, the New Zealand Economic Papers, and newsletter Asymmetric Information are distributed free to members.

Council

To read about the council, it’s current members, and past presidents click here.

NZAE Constitution

The NZAE Constitution was revised after the 2023 AGM. 
To download the complete constitution, click here.

Annual Report

The NZAE annual report includes audited financial statements, minutes from the last annual general meeting (AGM) and the agenda for the next AGM.
To access past annual reports, click here.

NZAE Education Trust

The New Zealand Association of Economists Education Trust was established by a trust deed dated 5 September 1990 to create a charitable trust for the furtherance of education for the economics profession and the advancement of the members the New Zealand Association of Economists (Inc) and to encourage overseas speakers to come and lecture in New Zealand and for other related and associated purposes”.

Read more about the Trust and the prizes it manages here.

Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

To read our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and and report on Gender Inequality in the Economics Profession in Aotearoa New Zealand, click here

History of the NZAE

Excerpt from The New Zealand Association of Economists: Memories of Its Early Years by Sir Frank Holmes, assisted by Len Bayliss and Jack McFaull.

“I was recently able to satisfy a request from Val Browning, the Secretary of the New Zealand Association of Economists, for early copies of the New Zealand Economic Papers. This provoked me to do some research on the early years of the Association. Unfortunately, the minutes of Council and general meetings of the Association from 1959 to 1966 are not among the papers that Val Browning has managed to pull together at the present office of the Association. The library of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has a very good collection of papers from the early conferences of the Association, but these do not include any minutes of meetings.

“Matthew Young Walls made an application for incorporation of the New
Zealand Association of Economists, as its secretary, on 1st October 1959,
following consent of an inaugural meeting. The application was accepted on 6 October 1959 and a fee of three pounds was paid. The registered office of the Association was established at Suite 4, Stamford House, Dudley Street, Lower Hutt, which was also the office of Fanning, Cable, Hayles and Walls, Public Accountants …

More information regarding our history is available in the following:

• Past Presidents (with thanks to Bob Buckle).
• Editors of the New Zealand Economic Journal available within NZEP page.
• Distinguished Fellows of the NZAE (including a brief history)
• Life Members of the NZAE (including a brief history)

Feel free to forward any historic material or anecdotes to us.

General NZ economics historical content

• History of Economics at the University of Otago
• Scoping the History of Economics in New Zealand
• A Biographical Dictionary of Australian and New Zealand Economists
• Stories of early NZAE years sought