barriomulas.com - Latino Economic Memes

The Economist recently ran an article on a lower appetite for risk among Brazilian businessmen. The lack of a Western style competitive drive is something that I have noticed myself among my local community's business sector. As long as businessmen stay afloat and survive, there is little need to go the extra mile to eliminate the competition. "Competing" businessmen can live side by side without any hostility to each other nor with any urge to shut the other out of business. Both are content with mere subsistence.

Sheldon Smith states that Latin American economic culture is "closet to East European economies such as Poland or Hungary" as opposed to American and West European models.

Smith states that "the dominant form of economic production in the formal sector from the 1950s to the 1990s was the family-owned conglomerate... [but] the family-owned enterprise is not entrepreneurial... [where] there is no clear-cut separation between family interests and business interests in family-owned enterprises."

Lomnitz and Perez Lizaure speaks of how "families were generally reluctant to use their own capital". "The conservative character of family enterprises," continues Smith, "meant that they were usually unwilling to take risks., the essence of an entrepreneurial company".

I would love to compare the above takes on the issue with raw data. An in-depth study establishing the following traits (and then comparing them to stateside levels) would be fascinating.

How many Puerto Rican entrepreneurs have lead failed enterprises prior to their current one?
In small businesses, what percentage of employees are family members?
How much of a Puerto Rican entrepreneur's profits are re-invested in the business?
Give examples of a number of potential business risks and measure willingness.
Within the previous 5 years has the business invested in any major technological advancements? (Internet, networks, scanners, etc.)