Nationalizations of Companies in Argentina (1930-2018): An Explanatory Typology

Abstract

This article presents an explanatory typology of companies’ nationalizations in Argentina between 1930 and 2018. Its main hypothesis is that there are four nationalization types: dirigiste nationalization, competitive nationalization, regulatory nationalization and rescue nationalization. Each type results from the interaction of two dimensions: a) the economic performance of the company at the time of its nationalization (is it profitable or is it broke); and b) the company is politically controlled by the Executive Branch after its nationalization, or it is not controlled. Furthermore, this article affirms that nationalization types depends on the sectoral coalition that supports each government that nationalizes a company: ISI, popular, bureaucratic-authoritarian, or liberal coalition. To demonstrate this hypothesis, this article analyzes a database with 276 observations, and performs a case study for each type of nationalization: Ferrocarriles del Estado (1948), YPF (2012), SIAM Di Tella (1970), and INDUPA (1994).