Motu Foundation

Motu is split into two separate organisations:

• Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, a charitable trust that runs our research programmes. These are funded by grants from various organisations including government departments and private companies.
• Motu Research and Education Foundation, a charitable trust, set up to manage our non-contract capability-building funding. This comes in the form of endowments and donations from a number of public and private institutions, as well as interested individuals.

The Motu Research and Education Foundation was established in 2006, with the aim of building capability of economic research and public decision-making. We build capability in the public sector by funding and promoting research into public policy issues affecting New Zealand without advocating an ideological or political position.

Specifically, we provide:

• Funding for Internships,
• Funding for scholarships,
• Funding for visiting academics to present in New Zealand, and
• Seed funding to explore new areas of economic and policy research.

The Motu Foundation is not an operational entity. We don’t carry out our own research, so in pursuing these objectives, the Foundation co-operates with a range of people and organisations, particularly Motu Research. The Motu Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees, which consists of some of New Zealand’s most distinguished business people and academics.

Under our Trust Deed, the Foundation is able to meet the following purposes within New Zealand:

• Commission, carry out, and facilitate empirical and theoretical research into public policy issues of importance and relevance to New Zealand. In all cases, research supported by the Foundation must meet international academic standards and be suitable for publication in reputable academic journals;
• Ensuring existing knowledge, information and research about New Zealand public policy is readily accessible in New Zealand. This includes commissioning summaries and critical reviews of existing published work on public policy issues;
• Promoting the results of the Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust’s research and knowledge, through various publication channels including the internet, conferences, seminars, workshops, dialogue groups and teaching;
• Maintaining close links with international experts working on topics related to the Motu Research’s purpose and collaborating with such experts;
• Advancing the Motu Trust’s work and purpose by facilitating the visits of relevant international experts;
• Promoting the charitable purposes of the Motu Trust; and
• Improving the capability and ability of individual groups and institutions to carry out empirical and theoretical research on New Zealand public policy, through training and collaboration initiatives, sponsorship of students or researchers, and the development of relevant databases.