Although the business history of Latin America is a growing and vibrant field, titles that deal with this topic comprehensively are scarce. We thus welcome the edited book by Andrea Lluch and colleagues. This collection is also a first compendium which specifically aims to support the teaching of international business, entrepreneurship and Latin American studies. The contributions present topics in their long-term development up to the twenty-first century, where possible. Offering a systematic review in clear and open language that could attract a large audience required a significant effort by editors and contributors alike.
The book is currently only available in Spanish. The 13 chapters are split into two large sections after the introduction. The first section consists of six chapters, each chapter focusing on the long-term development of a specific country: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru. These chapters are followed by seven thematic chapters in the second section.
The split between chapters aims to balance general trends while still providing sufficient detail to identify domestic dynamics. In terms of scope, chapters largely reflect the extant literature on researching the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Notable exceptions are authors providing details of developments during the colonial period. These are Chapter 6 on Peru by Martín Monsalve-Zanatti and Chapter 5 on Mexico by Aurora Gómez-Galvarriato Freer and Gabriela Recio Cavazos. Chapter 3 on Chile by Manuel Llorca-Jaña and Rory M. Miller brings home the discussion on resource-dependent economies.
An early concern after reading the introduction was whether contributions to the first section had executives of multinational companies as their intended audience. Fortunately, that was not the case. Instead, these chapters can easily be selected on a piecemeal basis to help students (or any other non-specialists) familiarise themselves with the business environment in a particular country. In this sense, contributions largely explain how capitalism works within the region rather than question its validity or underpinnings.
Contributions to the second section offer a fascinating array of topics. All are authored by leading scholars in the field and innovative topics include sustainability and business by Geoffrey Jones in Chapter 7; the response of business in Mexico and Colombia to criminality and violence in Chapter 8 by Sandra Ley and Angelika Rettberg; and the long-term overview of women in business in Chapter 12 by Bernardita Escobar-Andrae. There is an element of complementarity between chapters around themes at the cornerstone of business in Latin America, namely multinationals, business groups and family businesses. Developments in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico illustrate these themes. More explicit use of cross-references between chapters would have helped readers of individual chapters to identify these complementarities.
There is perhaps scope for a second volume to further explore the evolution of business systems in the region. This second volume could address some of what is missing in the first section. These are locations around which, admittedly, we know little (such as Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and the Guyanas) and others that have received some attention (such as Uruguay, Central America, Cuba and the Caribbean). Regarding potential additions to a second section of a second volume, there is a sizeable extant literature that could be drawn upon. For instance, works on financial institutions and financial markets and particularly the impact of foreign debt. But there is also an opportunity to address other topics that require attention. These could potentially include the contributions of enslaved work and Indigenous workers in capital formation; why the business sector consistently fails to act as a counter-measure against political crisis; homophily in corporate governance; social networks and elite formation; the role of the state in the financing of innovations and formation of markets; the institutions that enable capitalism to work in the region and make it similar or different to others; as well as discipline-specific studies such as accounting and financial management and the development of degrees in business and economics, which have received attention but for which there has been no attempt to provide a systematic review across the region nor cross-border comparisons.
All in all, however, this is a fascinating and enjoyable collection, worth reading cover to cover. I am sure we will see it actively used in the classroom and in essential references.
