Symbioses imperative and convenient: The Evolution of Crony Capitalism in Puebla, Mexico, 1920-1940

Andrew Paxman ()
Additional contact information
Andrew Paxman: Division of History, CIDE

No DTH 001, Working Papers from CIDE, División de Economía

Abstract: Several historians have used 'crony capitalism' to label the cozy and inefficient relationships between business and political elites prevailing in Mexico since the 19th century. But it is a nebulous term, stigmatizing various behaviors not all of which are harmful to state formation or economic growth. I seek to solve this problem of conceptual vagueness by differentiating between forms of state-capital interdependence. The first, necessary to both parties at times of uncertainty, I term a 'symbiotic imperative,' which operates between institutions and purports to serve the greater good. The second, involving exchanges of favors that are merely advantageous, I term 'symbiotic convenience,' which tends to operate at a more interpersonal level. As a case study, I consider relations between governors and the leading industrialist William Jenkins in Puebla after the Revolution.

Keywords: crony capitalism; sugar; campaign finance; William Jenkins; Ávila Camacho; Puebla; Mexico. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N46 N56 N86 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 16 pages
Date: 2016-12
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.economiamexicana.cide.edu/RePEc/emc/pdf/DTE/DTH001.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:emc:wpaper:dth001

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from CIDE, División de Economía Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mateo Hoyos ().