Te Matapaeroa is an ongoing project commissioned by Te Puni Kōkiri which examines the Māori economy, in particular Māori-owned businesses. The recently published research, Te Matapaeroa 2020, focused on the size and characteristics of Māori-owned businesses from 2010 up until 2020.
The pre-COVID view of Māori businesses forms a baseline from which future research will build upon. Updating this research yearly provides Te Puni Kōkiri and other Māori business stakeholders the evidence base to support policy and investment decisions to support Māori businesses. This research reflects the theme of the ANZEA Conference 2022, Ka mua, Ka mui: “Looking back to move forward”.
For the year ending 31 March 2020, we identified 23,000 Māori-owned businesses. This research has significantly contributed to our understanding of the size and scale of the Māori economy. For example, through this research, we identified the important role wāhine Māori play in the Māori economy. We discovered Māori-owned businesses with wāhine Māori owners employed more Māori than other Māori businesses. In July 2022, Te Puni Kōkiri started the next development phase of the Te Matapaeroa research series, referred to as Te Matapaeroa 2021. Te Matapaeroa 2021 will provide the first insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Māori businesses. Te Matapaeroa 2021 is a collaboration between Te Puni Kōkiri and the New Zealand Productivity Commission. Through this collaboration, Te Puni Kōkiri researchers aim to improve the methodology and approach in understanding Māori businesses using labour productivity data in Statistics New Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure.
