Families in business in Latin America, 1870s–2020s

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the process of transformation of Latin American family businesses between the 1870s and the early twenty-first century. This chapter presents, in a very synthetic way and in chronological order, the main transformations and discontinuities of the actors that have shaped the leading Latin American family businesses in different countries. It considers the common contextual conditions that have affected the economy and institutions of the continent. It is proposed to discuss and reflect on challenges that Latin American business families and family businesses have faced from the late nineteenth century until today, highlighting multiple trajectories of family businesses in a process that transcends success and failure. The chapter uses primary and secondary sources to present broader external environment trends, national politics, and the impact of such context in the creation, expansion, disappearance, or transformation of family businesses.