Dr Eilya Torshizian

Eilya is the Director of Principal Economics with extensive executive and consultancy experience. Eilya is experienced in managing large teams of applied researchers and has led a wide range of high-profile infrastructure projects in New Zealand.

Before founding Principal Economics Eilya was a Principal Economist and the Head of Quantitative Analysis Team at New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER). Prior to that, when Auckland was in the middle of its recent housing crisis, Eilya was at the Chief Economist Unit of Auckland Council. Before that Eilya was lecturing at the University of Auckland. Before that Eilya was the CEO of a mineral water manufacturing and was a partner at a holding company active in urban planning and construction, Information Technology and economic advice.

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Eilya is experienced in communicating complicated economic issues to audiences with different backgrounds and is familiar with political sensitivity of regional investments. Eilya has applied a wide range of economic modelling techniques to different datasets and has provided appropriate innovative frontier solutions for answering important policy questions.

Eilya was the Head of Quantitative Analysis Team at NZIER. He has supervised and developed robust innovative solutions for a wide range of clients. Eilya has extensive knowledge of evaluation methods and is a pioneer of solutions for a range of quantification methods in urban economics. This includes his contribution to the international literature through:

introducing the importance of relative housing positions
the role of social norms in wellbeing outcomes of urban policies
providing a solution to account for gentrification issues in regional studies

Member, Institute of Directors.
Member, New Zealand Association of Economists, 2013-2020
Member, Regional Science Association, 2014-2020
Reviewer, Journal of Economic Psychology, 2009-2020
Member, Resilience Urban Futures, 2012-2020

Project management
Urban economics
Wellbeing and inclusive policy advice
Econometrics, simulation and big data
Cost benefit analysis

Alternative appraisal methodology with a focus on land use and transport integration. In publication. NZ Transport Agency ART 22-19.
Identification of policy levers for reducing land transport emissions. In publication. NZ Transport Agency RR 714.
Fair fare for public transport. 2020. Auckland Transport. This report investigated the exact topic of this research project, to increase the private share of PT in Auckland.
Impact of public transport fares on uptake of bus services in Auckland and its impacts on different socioeconomic groups. Auckland Transport. March 2021.
Reforms to the Resource Management System: an analysis of expected impacts on Māori, the housing market and the natural environment. MfE 2021.
Estimating demand for competition analysis: a statistical exploration and some possible applications. 2020. The Productivity Hub (MBIE).
Climate change adaptation and investment decision-making. 2022. NZ Transport Agency Investment Unit.
Drivers of house price growth. 2021. The client is confidential.
Economic, emission and equity impact of Emission Reduction Budget 2 (2026-2030). 2024. Client: MfE. A preliminary report is available here.
Incorporating distributional Impacts in the cost-benefit appraisal framework. 2022. Research report (700) for Waka Kotahi NZ. November 2022..
Review of all regional councils’ housing and business capacity assessment. 2021. Report to MfE and HUD.
Social Cost-Benefit Framework for MSD interventions. Ministry of Social Development. February 2021.
Peer-review of Infometrics’ CGE analysis of Reducing Emissions from Land Transport for MoT.