The transformation of large firms in the 20th century: The case of Argentina

The Centre for Business History at BI has the pleasure of inviting to an open seminar with Andrea Lluch.

Lluch is researcher at the National Council of Science and Technical Research of Argentina (CONICET) and associate professor at the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. The title of her talk is «The transformation of large firms in the 20th century: The case of Argentina».

Abstract:

The analysis of the big business is a classic topic in the literature, given its crucial role in economic development. Starting with the studies of Ronald Coase and Alfred Chandler, the growth trajectories and strategies of large companies were incorporated into the analysis of the development of capitalism. The questioning of the Chandlerian paradigm as a normative model of business development was formulated from various perspectives. However, interest in big business has not waned with the advent of the post-Chandlerian era. On the contrary, the role of big business has been placed in a broader perspective and "alternative" forms of business organization have been revalued as part of modern societies rather than as mere archaisms. To contribute to this debate, this paper-as part of a broader and more comprehensive investigation of big business in twentieth-century Argentina-identifies the 200 largest non-financial firms operating on various dates from 1913 to 1971. Based on this new information, the main objective of the paper is to analyze and discuss the main transformations of large firms in the long term. To this end, the changing participation of large domestic firms, foreign multinationals, and economic groups in the Argentine corporate elite between 1913 and 1971 is evaluated, focusing on the impacts of external investment cycles, and identifying the main changes in the sectoral insertion of the largest firms.