Alex Plum

It was great giving the interview.

For those interested you can download the study here (open access): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A description of Mussolini in Paul Kennedy’s “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers”

When you live in a deprived area like mine homelessness is not hidden: when cycling to work I pass by cars where people sleep in them.

Census concerns over the 'cost of getting it wrong' Stats experts warn the cost of getting government data up to scratch could far outweigh the millions saved by scrapping the Census.

My concern is that using the Stats NZ’s research database the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to do individual-level analysis of vulnerable population like Rainbow+/Takatāpui people will become almost impossible

www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

It was great talking about my research on #BHN, see my interview here: www.youtube.com/live/7jBLe9e...

Leaving the past behind: Effects of clean slate regulation on employment and earnings We investigate the labor market implications of New Zealand’s clean slate initiative. The clean slate regulation allows automatic concealment of crimi…

NZ has the clean slate scheme and we looked into it; our conclusion is that we find only weak positive labour market impact, see our study here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

And our conversation piece is here:

theconversation.com/this-nz-law-...

Māori face harsher sentences than NZ Europeans for similar drink-driving offences – with lasting consequences A new analysis of more than 10,000 first-time drink-driving cases reveals a troubling disparity.

Are Māori and NZ European treated differently in New Zealand’s courtrooms? Our study suggests: yes!

We look at first-time drink-driving cases and find Māori are more likely to receive a community-based sentence than a (least severe) fine.

Read a summary here:
theconversation.com/maori-face-h...

Govt halts puberty blockers for new gender dysphoria patients Simeon Brown said the Government was taking a "precautionary approach" given "uncertainty" in the evidence about the medication's benefits or risks.

This is highly disturbing and my thoughts are with our transgender youth. And the effects will be clear: more self harm, suicide attempts, worse mental health. The time they lose to transition they will never get back. It’s so heartbreaking.

www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/19/g...

Examining what happens to families after separation and divorce by following parents and kids using rich administrative data to find out, from Kabir Dasgupta, Andrew C. Johnston, Linda Kirkpatrick, Maxim N. Massenkoff, and Alexander Plum https://www.nber.org/papers/w33873

Social and Health Outcomes around Divorce: Evidence from New Zealand Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

What happens with parents and their children when they split? We use NZ admin data and exact matching to look into numerous outcomes (labor market, physical and mental health, crime offending and victimization, child abuse, school absenteeism). Read our WP here:

www.nber.org/papers/w33873

This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working New Zealand’s clean slate scheme is meant to let people leave their criminal past behind. But people are waiting seven years to leave their past behind, hurting their job prospects.

This NZ law aims to give people with criminal convictions a ‘clean slate’. It’s not working. Sharing these important insights from AUT Business School's Alexander Plum on an initiative that could (and should) do better. theconversation.com/this-nz-law-...

Please read our new conversation piece on New Zealand’s clean slate policy—and while the intention is to reward people who do not reoffend, we hardly find any positive labour market effects. Maybe waiting seven years is too long to be relevant for employers.

Sign the Petition Reinstate Healthy and Nutritious School Lunches

Petition started by a student. Please sign and share. #nzpol

www.change.org/p/reinstate-...

In-kind Government Assistance and Crowd-out of Charitable Services: Evidence from Free School Meals Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

This NBER working paper shows that improving access to free school meals reduces the pressure on food banks

www.nber.org/papers/w33562

We looked into the economic outcomes of gender diverse people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Compared to cis individuals we find large employment and earning gaps.