This paper considers how the insurance sector could improve road safety outcomes at lower cost. Insurers can influence road safety outcomes in a number of ways but the regulatory environment limits their incentives and flexibility to address road safety. The paper considers reforms to improve insurer incentives and flexibility to manage road safety based on ...

This report by Dr Richard Tooth and published by the Financial Rights Legal Centre is the first comprehensive attempt to understand the concept of Open Insurance in Australia. Open Insurance as a concept has yet to be fully defined either by government or industry. The report looks at the use of consumer data and the ...

Sapere Director, Dr Richard Tooth with support from Roy Morgan Research undertook a study on household insurance held for Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG). The report is based on a survey of 1,200 Australian households that examined consumer attitudes and understanding of insurance, issues of affordability and other reasons for under and non-insurance. ...

This paper examines the economic issues of determining long-run marginal cost (LRMC) for the pricing of services. It describes and analytically compares the main methods used for estimating LRMC and discusses the issues in using these to set prices. While the paper has been developed in the context of a review of water and waste-water ...

This paper provides a background on subjective well-being (SWB) and provides guidelines for how and why well-being measures should be used in public policy. It includes case studies of the application of well-being measurement to policies and programs as well as Australian data sources for well-being measurement. ...

Could insurance markets be an answer to reducing the road toll? This working paper by Sapere Director, Dr Richard Tooth, explores this possibility. It examines the implications of recent step changes in technology and puts forward a model that provides insurers with incentives to encourage safer driving behaviour, safer speeds and use of safer vehicles. ...

This paper developed with the assistance of the New Zealand Law Foundation, is a case study that examines the regulation of consumer credit through the lens of behavioural economics. The paper examines how behavioural biases may contribute to poor decisions that have implications for the consumer credit industry. It critically reviews a range of regulations ...

A new field of research called ‘behavioural economics’ has emerged, which studies the way in which people deviate from rationality and simple self-interest. This paper investigates the implications of behavioural economics for public policy in New Zealand. This research paper was prepared by Timothy Irwin, with assistance from Richard Tooth, Sally Wyatt, Glenn Boyle, Simon ...

This cost benefit analysis seeks to understand the costs and benefits of requiring drinking water supplies serving different sized populations to meet all or part of the New Zealand drinking water Standards 2005, revised 2008. ...

Sapere was engaged by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, to undertake research to identify and develop critical techniques and methods that can be used to value and monetise the costs and benefits of resilience in transport infrastructure, described in a way that can be incorporated into the Economic Evaluation Manual (EEM). The resulting research paper ...