Family capitalism in Argentina: models and long-term dynamics

BARBERO MARIA INES; ANDREA LLUCH

Frankfurt am Main

Congreso; World Business History Conference 2014 ?State of the art in World Business History - a first review?; 2014

Goethe-Universität

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the distinctive features and evolution of Argentinian family capitalism in the long term, with the idea of comparing this case to other historical experiences and to contribute to the international debate on family buinesses in emerging countries. We will ask about the relevance of family firms in Argentina throughout the last century, about their main forms of organization at various moments in time and about how to explain the durability and the failures of these companies. This work presents, for the first time, a quantitative evaluation of the significance and characteristics of Argentinian family firms between 1923 and 2010, based on the nominal analysis of a series of rankings available for the 100 largest businesses for ten base years (1923, 1937, 1944, 1954/56, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2004 and 2010), and the subsequent individualization of family-owned firms