Enterprise & Society, Vol. 5 No. 4, © the Business History Conference 2004; all rights reserved.
Governments, Firms, and National Wealth: A New Pulp and Paper Industry in Postwar New Zealand
Astrid Baker is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management at Massey University in New Zealand.
Contact information: Department of Management, College of Business, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand. E-mail: a.t.baker{at}massey.ac.nz.
Abstract
The state played an important role as political and economic manager in postwar New Zealand. By fostering manufacturing, governments aimed to provide paid, productive employment, conserve foreign exchange, and support a welfare state. The history of pulp and papermaking using state-planted pine forests is a good example of a government-business joint venture to create a new export industry and new national wealth. Governments of both major political parties cooperated in capital formation, land use, hydroelectricity, roads, railroads, a modern port, and town construction. This longterm state commitment helped propel the industry toward largescale vertical integration so that it could achieve economies of scale and scope and compete in world markets.