Economic Elites in Latin America in the 21st Century: revisiting the large business groups of the continent

• In Event: Industrialización, desarrollo y bienestar

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of the larger Latin American business groups in the economic development of the continent in the first two decades of this century. Created and developed under the national-developmentalist model (1930-1980), the leading Latin American business groups lived the hard times of the period of the neoliberal reforms, lived shocks of competitiveness and productivity and finally were integrated to the global supply chains. Almost at the same time Latin America experienced the emergence of leftist governments with neo-developmentalist features and a new model of economic development in which the role of national business would be fundamental. However, that initiative seems had not be sucessfull, and now the increasing degree of internationalization of the economies of the continent occurs both in the countries with leftist governments and countries with rightist governments. In this paper we will discuss the processes of concentration and internationalization of ownership of the main Latin American companies, it´s relationship with goverments and the role that the peak business associations still play in representing the interests of the Latin American big business.
Key words: Latin America; Big Business; Economic Development.

Author

• Wagner T Iglecias, Universidade de São Paulo