Publication:

Better together: How multinationals come together with business groups in times of economic and political transitions

This article studies two interrelated questions. First, why did business groups in emerging markets thrive and prevail after pro‐market reforms were implemented in their countries? And, second, what type of adaptation strategies can multinational corporations develop in order to be competitive in economies dominated by business groups? By conducting an archive‐based historical network analysis of business groups in Chile during periods of major economic and political transitions, we maintain that business groups were created in periods of protectionism as a way to navigate economies with strong state participation or inefficient markets. In this process, these groups endogenously created an economy with market imperfections resulting from the dominance of these business groups. This means that the transition toward more open markets did not necessarily create more competitive environments and that elites in emerging economies were unwilling to abandon the advantages of having links between their businesses. Multinationals entering this economy adapted by becoming business groups themselves and creating links with other business groups. In sum, strategies devised as means to reduce market imperfections created new imperfections that incentivized the business groups to retain their structure and forced multinationals to become business groups.