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In Table 3, we report on regressions that relate these differing participation rates to various welfare indicators available in the census. These areas (local councils) had an average population just below 4,000 people in 2016, and so the data are quite finely grained. For some of these indicators, we also have similar data from the 2009 census and so we can examine how seasonal work participation rates within a local council area affect temporal changes in the welfare indicator. These differenced estimates let us rule out a concern that correlations between wealth indicators and seasonal work participation rates reflect reverse causality, which would occur if workers were selected from wealthier areas.

Figure 5.

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Local Variation in Participation Rates for Seasonal Work in New Zealand or Australia (%)

Note: This map was not produced by the cartography unit of the Asian Development Bank. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the Asian Development Bank, any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries, colors, denominations, or information.

Table 3.

Higher Rates of Seasonal Work Participation Associated with Improved Welfare Indicators in Vanuatu

Welfare Indicator (Rates for Local Council Areas)	OLS Regression Coefficients (Robust t-statistics) and R²			Beta Coefficients
	Ever Worked Seasonally in			Ever Worked Seasonally in
	NZ	Australia	Either	NZ	Australia	Either
Iron roof on dwelling	3.262	19.904	3.520	0.40	0.55	0.47
	(3.23)^***	(4.77)^***	(3.80)^***
R²	0.16	0.30	0.22
Bush material roof on dwelling	−3.296	−20.310	−3.565	−0.39	−0.55	−0.46
	(3.14)^***	(4.85)^***	(3.70)^***
R²	0.15	0.30	0.22
Walls mainly concrete or brick	1.908	7.870	1.898	0.47	0.44	0.51
	(4.53)^***	(2.55)^**	(5.04)^***
R²	0.22	0.19	0.26
Walls mainly traditional material	−4.144	−21.946	−4.329	−0.44	−0.53	−0.50
	(3.75)^***	(4.73)^***	(4.36)^***
R²	0.19	0.28	0.25
Lighting mainly from solar panels	2.567	4.804	2.305	0.40	0.17	0.39
	(4.35)^***	(1.24)	(3.92)^***
R²	0.16	0.03	0.16
Lighting mainly from solar lamp(s)	−3.109	−19.480	−3.377	−0.40	−0.57	−0.48
	(4.12)^***	(5.03)^***	(4.83)^***
R²	0.16	0.33	0.23
Mobile phone users	1.356	7.488	1.430	0.31	0.39	0.36
	(3.67)^***	(3.25)^***	(4.14)^***
R²	0.10	0.15	0.13
Internet users	0.605	8.489	0.959	0.16	0.53	0.26
	(1.44)	(2.80)^***	(1.92)^*
R²	0.03	0.28	0.07
Own-business is main household income	0.931	2.673	0.876	0.21	0.14	0.22
	(1.73)^*	(1.23)	(1.86)^*
	0.04	0.02	0.05
Changes in welfare indicator between 2009 and 2016
Iron roof on dwelling	0.965	−0.891	0.759	0.23	−0.05	0.20
	(2.01)^**	(0.64)	(1.60)^***
R²	0.05	0.00	0.04
Walls mainly concrete or brick	1.136	0.203	0.945	0.40	0.02	0.37
	(2.81)^***	(0.18)	(2.37)^**
R²	0.17	0.00	0.14
Lighting mainly from solar panels	2.350	4.521	2.123	0.40	0.17	0.39
	(4.33)^***	(1.39)	(4.07)^***
R²	0.16	0.03	0.16
Own-business is main household income	0.944	2.612	0.886	0.20	0.12	0.20
	(1.59)	(1.11)	(1.70)^*
	0.04	0.02	0.04

Welfare Indicator (Rates for Local Council Areas)	OLS Regression Coefficients (Robust t-statistics) and R²			Beta Coefficients
	Ever Worked Seasonally in			Ever Worked Seasonally in
	NZ	Australia	Either	NZ	Australia	Either
Iron roof on dwelling	3.262	19.904	3.520	0.40	0.55	0.47
	(3.23)^***	(4.77)^***	(3.80)^***
R²	0.16	0.30	0.22
Bush material roof on dwelling	−3.296	−20.310	−3.565	−0.39	−0.55	−0.46
	(3.14)^***	(4.85)^***	(3.70)^***
R²	0.15	0.30	0.22
Walls mainly concrete or brick	1.908	7.870	1.898	0.47	0.44	0.51
	(4.53)^***	(2.55)^**	(5.04)^***
R²	0.22	0.19	0.26
Walls mainly traditional material	−4.144	−21.946	−4.329	−0.44	−0.53	−0.50
	(3.75)^***	(4.73)^***	(4.36)^***
R²	0.19	0.28	0.25
Lighting mainly from solar panels	2.567	4.804	2.305	0.40	0.17	0.39
	(4.35)^***	(1.24)	(3.92)^***
R²	0.16	0.03	0.16
Lighting mainly from solar lamp(s)	−3.109	−19.480	−3.377	−0.40	−0.57	−0.48
	(4.12)^***	(5.03)^***	(4.83)^***
R²	0.16	0.33	0.23
Mobile phone users	1.356	7.488	1.430	0.31	0.39	0.36
	(3.67)^***	(3.25)^***	(4.14)^***
R²	0.10	0.15	0.13
Internet users	0.605	8.489	0.959	0.16	0.53	0.26
	(1.44)	(2.80)^***	(1.92)^*
R²	0.03	0.28	0.07
Own-business is main household income	0.931	2.673	0.876	0.21	0.14	0.22
	(1.73)^*	(1.23)	(1.86)^*
	0.04	0.02	0.05
Changes in welfare indicator between 2009 and 2016
Iron roof on dwelling	0.965	−0.891	0.759	0.23	−0.05	0.20
	(2.01)^**	(0.64)	(1.60)^***
R²	0.05	0.00	0.04
Walls mainly concrete or brick	1.136	0.203	0.945	0.40	0.02	0.37
	(2.81)^***	(0.18)	(2.37)^**
R²	0.17	0.00	0.14
Lighting mainly from solar panels	2.350	4.521	2.123	0.40	0.17	0.39
	(4.33)^***	(1.39)	(4.07)^***
R²	0.16	0.03	0.16
Own-business is main household income	0.944	2.612	0.886	0.20	0.12	0.20
	(1.59)	(1.11)	(1.70)^*
	0.04	0.02	0.04

NZ = New Zealand, OLS = ordinary least squares.

Notes: The sample size is 66 local council areas, regressions include a constant that is not reported, and t-statistics from robust standard errors are in parentheses. ^***, ^**, ^* denote statistical significance at the 1%, 5%, and 10% levels, respectively.

Source: Authors’ calculations.

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