News and Updates

LEANZ 2021 Essay Competition Winners

The winning entry this year was Nicholas Goldstein for his essay Five-Eyes, Spies, and International Ties: A Common Whistleblowing Regime.
Runner up was Connor Browne, LIFE’S NOT FAIR, BUT PHARMAC IS — DEFENDING PHARMAC FROM ITS CRITICS.

Congratulations to both winners and many thanks to Bryce Wilkinson and the other judges for their hard work.

LEANZ 2020 Essay Competition Winners

LEANZ received 24 entries to the essay competition in 2020, a record number of entries. The standard at the top end of the submissions was very high.

The winning entry was Nathan Tse for his essay Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the Corporate Form. This essay examined the role of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and asked whether DAOs really improve the corporate form. DAOs ostensibly eliminate agency costs due to the absence of a board of directors, automated governance mechanisms and transparency provided by the blockchain upon which the DAO is launched. Nathan’s analysis suggested several practical and legal obstacles that technological advancements and improved engineering must overcome before DAOs become a viable, mainstream organisational structure. Balancing the inevitable improvement in technology against these significant obstacles, this article predicts an incremental integration of DAOs into society through a hybrid approach, involving interim legal solutions and varying degrees of automation and decentralisation.

Runner up was Chanelle Duley, Democracy or Technocracy?: Policy Delegation and Populism? This paper identifies the incentives faced by elected and appointed policymakers and compares the efficiency of each policymaker’s performance under such incentives.

With thanks to Bryce Wilkinson, Lew Evans, George Barker and Bronwyn Howell for acting as judges.

2019 Essay Competition – winners announced

LEANZ is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2019 LEANZ essay competition:

Winner ($3,000 prize): Lauren Tyler-Harwood–“Achieving Water Security in the Waimea Plains”

Runner-up (discretionary $1,500 prize): Riki Fujii-Rajani–“Can’t Touch This? Sovereign Debt and the Law of Sovereign Immunity”

Thanks to the judging panel of LEANZ Fellows and committee members:

George Barker, Andreas Heuser, Bronwyn Howell, Michael Littlewood and Bryce Wilkinson

Pictures from the prize-giving event prior to the 4 September 2019 Wellington seminar at Chapman Tripp:

The 2018 LEANZ Essay Competition winners

LEANZ Essay Competition – Winners Announced

The Law and Economics Association of New Zealand, Inc. (LEANZ) is pleased to announce the winner and commendable runner up of the inaugural LEANZ Essay Competition.

The first prize of $3,000 was awarded to

  • Alex Ross: “Green Bonds Securities Regulation: Towards a Low Carbon Economy”

The discretionary prize for a commendable runner-up prize of $1,500 was awarded to

  • Louis Norton: “Is Defensive Practice Defensible”

The competition was open to current or recent under- or post-graduate New Zealand university students of any discipline. Entries closed on 7 May 2018. The original full entry criteria and information here. Please keep an eye out for announcements for the 2019 LEANZ Essay Competition.

LEANZ has awarded two scholarships for Masters’ level study of law and economics overseas

LEANZ has awarded two scholarships of $10,000 each for overseas study of law and economics in the academic year 2013-2014.
The Friedlander Foundation Scholarship, generously funded by the Friedlander Foundation, is awarded to Samuel Beswick of Auckland who is to read for an LLM at Harvard.

A C W Maughan Scholarship, funded by members of LEANZ, is awarded to Richard Davidson of Wellington who is to read for an LLM at Toronto.
LEANZ is delighted to be able to assist two candidates of such excellent calibre and looks forward to their future contributions to law and economics in New Zealand.

LEANZ tribute to Sir Ivor Richardson

The Law and Economics Association of New Zealand today expresses its sadness at the death its inaugural Patron Sir Ivor Richardson.

The Association’s tribute to Sir Ivor is here.

Sir Ivor provided a characteristically careful and acute introductory address to the LEANZ Symposium on 16 September 2014 which is re-published here.

Annual General Meeting: advance notice/call for nominations

The Law and Economics Association of New Zealand (LEANZ) wishes to give notice to its members of its 2012 Annual General Meeting.

Speaker: David Harper, Professor of Economics at NYU
Date: 25 June 2012
Venue: Kensington Swan, 89 The Terrace, Wellington (with a video link to Kensington Swan, 18 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland)
Time: Starting at 6pm
________________________________________
Nomination for 2012/13 Committee
Nominations are sought for the following positions on the LEANZ Executive Committee for 2012/2013:
• President
• Vice President (two positions available)
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Committee member (four positions available)
In addition to the elected Committee, the Committee may co-opt up to four non-elected members. The positions will be elected at the AGM. If you would like to make a nomination, please complete the form here and return it to the Secretary by post or fax (details below). The Secretary must receive your nomination no later than 5.00pm on Monday 28 May 2012.

Anna Parker
LEANZ Secretary
PO Box 2694
Wellington
Fax: 04 462 0858

LEANZ joins the social networking age

LEANZ is now on Facebook! Search “Law and Economics Association New Zealand” and add us as a friend. The page contains updates, discussions and links to items of interest.

LEANZ admits a new fellow

The Patron of the Law and Economics Association of New Zealand, Sir Ivor Richardson, former President of the Court of Appeal, presented Matthew Palmer, Deputy Solicitor-General (Public Law) with the certificate recording his admission as a Fellow of the Association at the Annual General Meeting of the Association on 28 June.

The prime requirement for Fellowship is the publication of at least 100,000 words which advance the study or understanding of law and economics issues in or with reference to New Zealand. Fellows may use the post-nominal LEANZF. Matthew Palmer has published a number of papers on ex-socialist economies and also written on economic analysis of constitutional institutions. Matthew Palmer was the founding Secretary of the Association in 1994.

Matthew Palmer Presentation

Photo credit: Sally Wyatt

Lew Evans recognised on New Years Honours list

Professor Lew Evans, LEANZ Fellow, has been appointed an ONZM in the New Years Honours List for services to education.

§ Louis Norton’s entry was entitled: “Is Defensive Practice Defensible”

LEANZ Annual General Meeting 2011

LEANZ recently held its Annual General Meeting on the 28th of June, 2011. The AGM was hosted by Russel McVeagh, with a video link to Auckland. After the AGM, Dr Russell Norman MP and Dr Jason Potts (University of Queensland) debated the utility of Happiness Indexes.

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