Following the end of convertibility, the domestic business groups that had been consolidated since the 1960s and played a pivotal role in the country’s political and economic landscape began to experience a decline. With the foreignization of corporate leadership came a range of outcomes, including groups that executed a strategic withdrawal, engaging in opportunistic sales and capital gains, and those who struggled to consolidate their core business.
Two decades later, examinations of businesses and enterprises revealed a contrasting landscape: significant local capital had reclaimed its position among major firms. Upon delving into this phenomenon, it becomes evident that the expansion of domestic groups was linked to both the international integration of traditional conglomerates in the processing of raw materials as well as the emergence of new entities that resulted from the retreat of foreign capital in select sectors of Argentina’s productive framework. Notably, the energy sector emerges prominently, especially within the electricity domain, where most transnational corporations, all considerable global significance and established post-privatizations, commenced their exit from the country.
This thesis aims to investigate the development and implementation of business strategies by newly formed economic groups in the electricity sector. It will also examine the way these groups interacted with the broader economic, institutional, and regulatory changes that occurred between 2003 and 2019. The second part of the thesis will analyze the impact of these strategies on the performance of the businesses and the electricity industry.
To achieve our goals, we use a perspective that is based on the new economic sociology, incorporating ideas from the sociology of development and political economy. Our methodological approach involves combining techniques from the qualitative paradigm, such as interviews and bibliographic and documentary analysis, with descriptive statistics, depending on the objectives we aim to achieve.
Managers and shareholders responses to environmental changes influence economic groups success and performance. Socially constructed understandings of control guide business actions, leading to different trajectories and outcomes. As a result, business behavior varies regarding strategies, results, and performance, impacting their success and continuity over time. The intersection of entrepreneurial action and state intervention has led to regulatory models that may need to align with the intended objectives, resulting in contradictions, implementation difficulties, and unexpected outcomes. Consequently, business behavior shows heterogeneity in their strategies, results, and performance, where these organizations could have been more successful and infallible in guaranteeing their reproduction and could enter situations that compromised their continuity over time. The regulatory models that the promoters outlined often fell short of achieving their intended objectives. These models faced several challenges during implementation, including contradictions that made it difficult to establish results. As a result, the promoters had to focus on establishing results primarily during the implementation process. Even then, they faced difficulties in achieving the desired outcomes.
Keywords: business groups, energy regulation models, business strategies, State
