14 November 2018
DownloadsThis paper constructs a long time series of permanent and long-term arrivals and departures of construction workers to and from New Zealand between 1962 and 2018. It briefly describes the data and the sources, then discusses key observations in the data.
The key findings are that the large outflow of construction workers following the collapse of construction sector activity in the mid-1970s, combined with changes to migration rules in the early 1990s, led to a significant, persistent reduction in the net migration of construction workers. That reduction was probably partly responsible for the capacity constraints we currently observe in the construction sector. Read the Note on Construction Worker Migration to New Zealand 1962-2018 here.
Note - The following paper is by the same authors on construction in New Zealand: Residential construction and population growth in New Zealand: 1996-2016
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