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A Learning-Centered View of Business Associations: Building Business-Government Relations for Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Paola Perez-Aleman
Paola Perez-Aleman*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Management, McGill University
*
*Faculty of Management, McGill University, 1001 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1G5. Tel: (514) 398–4041; E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The problems of rent seeking and state captured by business associations have been prominent among the concerns of economic development theory. This paper argues that firms and the state can make possible the building of new institutions that foster improvements in economic performance through arrangements that emphasize goal setting, problem solving, and continual evaluation of progress toward defined goals. The paper reviews key ideas on the learning-centered approach and builds on them to analyze the kinds of government–business relations that contribute to economic development. It uses case study material based on Chile's agro-industry business association FEPACH. It illustrates how innovative state policy coupled with private firms' efforts led to the discovery of group-based coordination that fostered rapid diffusion of new technology and production organization among Chilean enterprises. This work discusses the institutional reshaping of the business association and business–state relations to encourage learning and advance a process of development.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , August 2003 , pp. 193 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2003 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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