Title: Maori entrepreneurship: fact or fallacy?

Authors: Martin H. Devlin

Addresses: Department of Management, Massey University, PB 11-222, Palmerstom North, New Zealand

Abstract: Politicians and academics, including Maori and those who do not identify as Maori, have recently claimed that Maori are the most entrepreneurial people in the world. Others claim that if Maori were their own country, it would rank as the fourth most entrepreneurial country in the world. Are such claims able to be substantiated, and if so, what are the implications for New Zealand society in general and Maori communities in particular? What are the implications for government policies focused on Maori economic development? The paper draws upon a number of published and unpublished sources which, taken together, reveal such claims to be highly exaggerated and misleading. The paper speculates on why such claims continue to be made in the absence of a strong body of theoretical or empirical evidence. Finally, the paper outlines a possible research framework for Maori economic development alternatives.

Keywords: entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; Maori; ethnic entrepeneurship; affirmative action programmes; government policies; economic development; New Zealand.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2007.013688

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2007 Vol.4 No.4, pp.407 - 418

Published online: 11 May 2007 *

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