In response to the barriers to exporting created by the previous policies of import substitution, a number of newly industralising countries adopted state assistance programmes for manufacturers wishing to export. New Zealand was one of these countries. The first forms of export incentive assistance in the form of taxation concessions, were introduced in 1962. Since then, the provision and use of incentive assistance has grown significantly. By 1978 it was estimated that export taxation incentive assistance was costing $300m annually. This thesis is an examination of export taxation incentive assistance in New Zealand. It shows that the provision and maintenance of incentive assistance has been the result of an interaction of domestic and international political and economic factors. Constraints placed on agricultural exports by protectionist policies adopted in the advanced industralised countries in the early 19601 s meant that New Zealand turned to manufacturing and forestry as an additional source of export income. This in turn required the creation of an internationally competitive manufacturing sector. The thesis analyses the domestic and international environment of the incentive schemes. It contends that an important factor behind the introduction of incentive assistance rather than removal of import controls and adjustments to the exchange rate, was the prevailing political ideology. This ideology, an acceptance of state intervention as a political norm, created an ad-hoc system of assistance to manufacturing exporters, but failed to address the fundamental problems of New Zealand export policy.