Richard Fabling
Senior Fellow
Richard joined Motu as a Senior Fellow in October 2011, having previously held senior research positions at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Ministry of Economic Development. In those roles, he was instrumental in the development of New Zealand’s Business Operations Survey and Longitudinal Business Database (LBD). His collaboration with Statistics New Zealand is ongoing and is currently focussed on the integration of new datasets into the LBD.
Richard’s primary research interest is in describing and understanding the performance of firms, and the application of this understanding to issues of public policy. His current work focuses on the determinants of productivity growth, especially the role of intangible investments (eg, changing work practices, R&D); the performance of internationally engaged businesses; and the effect of the Global Financial Crisis on workers and firms.
Richard holds a doctorate from the University of Waikato in Applied Mathematics (Magnetohydrodynamics), where his thesis entailed modelling solar flares.
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Publications
Fabling, Richard and Arthur Grimes. 2003. "Insolvency and Economic Development: Regional Variation and Adjustment," Motu Working Paper 03-18.
Grimes, Arthur and Richard Fabling. 2005. "Insolvency and Economic Development: Regional Variation and Adjustment," Journal of Economics and Business, 57:4, pp. 339-359.
Grimes, Arthur and Richard Fabling. 2007. "Practice Makes Profit: Business Practices and Firm Success," Small Business Economics, 29:4, pp. 383-399.
Grimes, Arthur and Richard Fabling. 2007. "HR Practices and Firm Performance: What Matters and Who Does it?" MED Ooccasional Paper 07-02.
Fabling, Richard; Arthur Grimes and Philip Stevens. 2008. "A Comparison of Qualitative and Quantitative Firm Performance Measures," MED Occasional Paper 08-04, Ministry of Economic Development, Wellington, New Zealand.
Fabling, Richard and Arthur Grimes. 2008. "Do Exporters Cut the Hedge? Who Hedges and Why," Ministry of Economic Development Occasional Paper 08/02.
Crawford, Ron; Richard Fabling, Arthur Grimes and Nick Bonne. 2007. "National R&D and Patenting: Is New Zealand an Outlier?" New Zealand Economics Papers, 41:1, pp. 69-90.
Fabling, Richard. 2007. "The performance of New Zealand exporters: Some firm-level evidence," Motu Public Policy Seminar, December.
Fabling, Richard and Arthur Grimes. 2010. "Cutting the Hedge: Exporters' Dynamic Currency Hedging Behaviour," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 18:3, pp. 241–53.
Fabling, Richard. 2010. "Keeping it Together: Tracking Firms in New Zealand's Longitudinal Business Database," Motu Working Paper 11-01.
Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and Lynda Sanderson. 2011. "Any Port in a Storm? The Impact of New Port Infrastructure on New Zealand Exporter Behaviour," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper DP2011/01, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Wellington. Available online at http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/research/discusspapers/dp2011.html
Maré, David C.; Richard Fabling and Steven Stillman. 2011. "The Impact of Immigration and Local Workforce Characteristics on Innovation," Economic Impacts of Immigration Working Paper , New Zealand Department of Labour, Wellington. Available online at http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications/research/local-workforce-characteristics-innovation/
Maré, David C., Richard Fabling and Steven Stillman. 2011. "Immigration and Innovation," Motu Working Paper 11-05, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington.
Maré, David C., and Richard Fabling. "Productivity and Local Workforce Composition," Motu Working Paper 11-10, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington.
Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and Philip Stevens. 2012. "The Relatives are Fine: Use of Qualitative Firm Data in Economic Analysis," Applied Economics Letters, 19:7, pp. 614-8
- Fabling, Richard. 2011. "International Engagement and Firm Performance," Asymmetric Information: Newsletter of the New Zealand Association of Economists, Issue 42, December 2011, p. 10.
Fabling, Richard, and David C. Maré. 2012. "Cyclical Labour Market Adjustment in New Zealand: The Response of Firms to the Global Financial Crisis and its Implications for Workers", Motu Working Paper 12-04, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington.
Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and Lynda Sanderson. 2012. "Whatever Next? Export Market Choices of New Zealand Firms," Papers in Regional Science, 91:1, pp. 137–160.
Fabling, Richard and Arthur Grimes. 2010. "HR Practices and New Zealand Firm Performance: What Matters and Who Does It?", International Journal of Human Resource Management 21:4, pp. 488–208.
Fabling, Richard, and Arthur Grimes. 2009. "The 'Suite' Smell of Success: Complementary Personnel Practices and Firm Performance", Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper DP2009/13, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Wellington. Available online from http://rbnz.govt.nz/research/discusspapers/dp2009.html
Fabling, Richard, and Arthur Grimes. 2008. "Over the Hedge? Exporters' Optimal and Selective Hedging Choices," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper DP2008/14, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Wellington. Available online from http://rbnz.govt.nz/research/discusspapers/dp2008.html
Maré, David C. and Richard Fabling. 2013. “Productivity and Local Workforce Composition,” in Geography, Institutions and Regional Economic Performance, R. Crescenzi and M. Percoco, Eds. Berlin and New York: Springer.
Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and Lynda Sanderson. 2013. “Any Port in a Storm: Impacts of New Port Infrastructure on Exporter Behaviour,” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review 49:1, pp. 33–47.
Fabling, Richard, Arthur Grimes and David C. Maré. 2012. "Performance Pay Systems and the Gender Wage Gap," Motu Working Paper 12-13, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington.
Fabling, Richard, and Lynda Sanderson. 2013. "Export Performance, Invoice Currency, and Heterogeneous Exchange Rate Pass-Through," Motu Working Paper 13-01, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington.
Fabling, Richard, and Lynda Sanderson. 2013. “Exporting and Firm Performance: Market Entry, Investment and Expansion,” Journal of International Economics 89:2, pp. 422–31.