The importance of co-operatives to the New Zealand economy: Constructing a co-operative economy
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the size of New Zealand’s co-operative sector, in terms of its direct contribution to output and employment as well as its indirect impact. This adds to the construction of a rigorous representation of the global co-operative economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings here are based on data derived largely from surveying the co-operative sector in 2012. A value added approach is used to estimate the co-ops sector’s contribution to New Zealand’s GNP.
Findings
The author estimates suggest that the cooperative sector is much larger, even in its direct impact on the economy, than the prior estimates indicate.
Research limitations/implications
Assumptions were made on the size contribution of missing firms and the value added contribution of co-ops. These assumptions need to be interrogated and improved upon, albeit the assumptions are designed to generate lower bound size estimates.
Practical implications
The methodology adopted in this paper can be used to develop more rigorous estimates of the size of the co-op sector globally.
Social implications
The results empirically challenge the worldview of conventional economics that co-ops are not economically sustainable, where co-ops offer a more equitable and democratic mode for production and development.
Originality/value
This paper presents revised, relatively robust, and methodologically transparent estimates of the size of New Zealand’s co-operative sector. These estimates suggest a much larger sector than previously thought. The methodology developed here can contribute to developing more robust estimates of the size of the co-op sector globally.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Ben Udy who was selected as the research assistant for this project, where he was tasked to gather and collate the data to construct estimates of New Zealand’s co-operative sector and produce a report based on this new data set under the author’s supervision, using the methodology that the author developed. Ramsey Margolis, formerly Executive Director of Cooperative Business New Zealand, played an instrumental role in launching this project and the author thank him for his initiative and his comments and suggestions. The author would also like to thank the referee, for her/his excellent comments and suggestions, as well as Louise Lamontagne and Hannah Altman.
Citation
Altman, M. (2017), "The importance of co-operatives to the New Zealand economy: Constructing a co-operative economy", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 44 No. 12, pp. 2086-2096. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-06-2016-0174
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited