Nau mai, harae mai to our newest Research Fellow, Leon Stirk-Wang

Jan 12, 2026

Nau mai, harae mai / a big warm welcome to our newest Research Fellow, Leon Stirk-Wang.

Leon is an economist specialising in causal inference, applied micro-econometrics and spatial modelling. He has a strong focus on data-intensive policy analysis.

At Motu Research, Leon’s work has been mainly applied and technical, centred on data engineering and micro-modelling. 

So far, Leon has worked with our Senior Fellows Stuart Donovan and Tadhg Ryan-Charleton on:

• competition in air travel and grocery retailing
• local and regional infrastructure supply.
  

Upcoming work from Motu Research that Leon is involved in is looking at:

• the effects of infrastructure charges on housing supply
• trends in land values within Aotearoa New Zealand
  

Leon holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Otago, where his research developed methods for identifying treatment effects in quasi-experimental settings and applied them to questions in climate risk, asset stranding and urban development.