Kaitiakitanga me te whakamahi tika
Stewardship and Responsible Use
How Whakapapa Economics should be used, and what it should not claim to do.
Five commitments
The method is an applied framework
Whakapapa Economics is an evolving applied framework. It draws on Māori concepts, theory, scholarship and practice to support better economic and impact reasoning. It does not claim to originate the Māori concepts on which it relies.
Not a universal definition of Māori value
The framework is not a universal definition of Māori value. It does not replace iwi, hapū, whānau, mana whenua or community-defined understandings of value.
Māori concepts are not priced directly
The method does not price whakapapa, mana, mauri, wairua, tikanga or other Māori concepts as abstract objects. It values observable pathways that may arise when those concepts are upheld in practice.
Evidence and judgement matter
Wider value still needs discipline. Claims should be supported by clear pathways, bounded groups, observable signals, evidence, uncertainty and safeguards against double counting.
Responsible application requires context
Serious use of the method requires context-specific evidence, appropriate engagement, Māori authority where relevant, and careful interpretation.
Applied work
Applied work using Whakapapa Economics is undertaken through Matatihi.
Te kaituhi
About the author
Whakapapa Economics is developed and stewarded by Dr Jay Whitehead (Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ōraka Aparima), an economist and environmental scientist and Managing Director of Matatihi. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Lincoln University and was a Senior Research Fellow at the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, University of Canterbury (2021–2024).
His work over more than a decade sits at the intersection of social and environmental impact valuation, non-financial reporting, and kaupapa Māori approaches to relational, cultural, environmental and intergenerational value. He authored the Tauutuutu white paper for Our Land and Water on reciprocal exchange and value transmission, has contributed to the development of He Tauira — the External Reporting Board’s te ao Māori non-financial reporting framework — since its founding wānanga in 2022, and is the author of the most internationally cited peer-reviewed paper on materiality assessment for sustainability strategy.
The method paper that sets out Whakapapa Economics is in development as a peer-reviewed publication with senior Māori scholarly co-authors. This page exists so readers can see where the thinking comes from and judge it accordingly.