Collectivist beliefs may be holding back Maori economic success, three economists say.
The trio have found that Maori are much more collectivist and non-materialistic and have stronger kinship ties than other New Zealanders.
They say these values may explain why many Maori enterprises are built on a “stakeholder” model, where profits are shared with all members of an iwi rather than a few shareholders.
But they warn: “There are arguments that it comes at the expense of economic efficiency, since stakeholder firms no longer become focused on the singular goal of raising shareholder returns.” Continue reading