Large Portuguese firms from the Marshall Plan to EFTA: early stirrings of managerial capitalism?

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Abstract

The second half of the 1940s and the 1950s was simultaneously the period of impact of the Marshall Plan on the Portuguese economy and the epoch of take-off of modern economic growth in Portugal. This process has been studied from a macroeconomic perspective, but not from a business point of view. This is the purpose of this paper, which examines the formation of new firms, and studies the scale, scope, performance, ownership, structure and strategy of a sample of the largest firms. It shows how the Marshall aid and the government commitment to promoting economic growth and sovereignty over a vast colonial empire led to cooperation with family firms through regulation, subsidies and planning. The related and unrelated diversified-business character of
informal business groups escapes Chandler’s model and his scale and scope economies, but succeeded in providing safety and mutual assistance among firms to face an increasingly competitive world.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-153
JournalImprese e Storia
Volume38
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2010

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