Briefing to the New Zealand Productivity Commission on frontier firms

This briefing was provided by Cooperative Business NZ to the New Zealand Productivity Commission in response to its draft report on frontier firms, released in December 2020. The briefing presented perspectives from the cooperative and mutual sector, drawing on international frameworks and New Zealand-specific evidence.

Although the Productivity Commission was subsequently disestablished in 2024, the briefing remains a relevant reference document for understanding how cooperative business models relate to productivity, competition, and long-term economic performance.

Briefing at a glance

• Prepared by: Cooperative Business NZ 

• Date: February 2021 

• Submitted to: New Zealand Productivity Commission (now disestablished) 

• Policy area: Productivity, competition, economic structure 

• Format: Written briefing (PDF) 

Purpose of the briefing

The briefing sought to broaden the Commission’s analytical lens by incorporating cooperative and mutual enterprises into discussions of productivity and frontier firm performance. It also encouraged deeper engagement with international cooperative standards and New Zealand’s own cooperative history.

Key issues addressed

• Recognition of cooperatives as distinct business models within productivity analysis

• Application of international frameworks, including ILO Recommendation 193 and UN guidelines

• Limitations of investor-owned firm benchmarks when assessing cooperative productivity

• Contributions of dairy cooperatives to long-term economic resilience

• The need for cooperative-specific policy and legislative consideration

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