Conflicting perspectives appear when thinking about the emergence of a cohesive transnational corporate network in Latin America. On the one hand, regional political integration, foreign investment growth, increased cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and cultural and linguistic homogeneity may have fostered transnational networks among Latin America's corporate elites. On the other hand, domestic-based business groups, family control and trade orientation to the USA may have hindered the emergence of a cohesive transnational corporate network in Latin America. Based on a network analysis of interlocking directorates among the 300 largest corporations in Latin America, I ask whether the region's corporate elites interconnect at the transnational level and form a cohesive transnational corporate network. I found few transnational interlocks, a lack of cohesion in the transnational corporate network and no regional leaders. Corporate elites in Latin America are not transnationally interconnected and so a cohesive transnational corporate network has not emerged. I discuss implications and avenues of future research.
This article analyzes, compares, and explains the corporate elite networks formed by interlocking directorates across five Latin American economies in order to comprehend why corporate elites are interconnected by cohesive networks in some countries and not in others. Results show cohesive elite networks in Mexico, Chile, and to some extent in Peru, but not in Brazil and Colombia. After testing and rejecting the hypotheses from existing theories, the author identifies complementarities among cohesive corporate elite networks, state-business relations through strong encompassing business associations, and market openness. In economies where statebusiness relations are mediated by strong encompassing business associations and open up to free trade with developed economies, corporate elites form cohesive networks, whereas in economies with weak encompassing business associations and low trade openness, corporate elites do not form cohesive networks. These novel explanations are useful to understand corporate elite networks in emerging economies, and a benchmark for future studies on corporate elites.
The present research analyzes national corporate interlock networks and their causal conditions. The objective is twofold: 1) to specify types of corporate networks, and 2) to pinpoint the causal configurations that give rise to each type of corporate network. First, corporate networks on basis of interlocking directorates are analyzed and compared using social network analysis to empirically derive a typology. The results show two types of corporate networks: cohesive corporate networks which are based on unification, centralization and strength ties; and dispersed corporate networks which are characterized by fragmentation, decentralization and single ties. Second, combinations of causal conditions that explain the emergence of each type of corporate networks are identified using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Finally, avenues of research on corporate interlock networks are suggested.
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