Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T05:14:43.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Cultural Determinants of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: A Case Study Of Mendoza Province, Argentina, 1861–1914

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Abstract

Analyses of the cultural factors supporting modernization and development have moved along a continuum from the clear-cut formulations of Parsons, Schumpeter, and Weber to the paradoxical assertions of contemporary scholars. The failure of countries like Argentina to achieve sustained development after spectacular starts has contributed to the confusion. This study examines two popular cultural explanations for such developmental problems, and finds them both wanting. Men-doza's experience suggests the need to adjust development programs to local cultural exigencies, rather than the reverse, as most analysts have argued. A four-part sequence to this effect is presented.

Type
Papers Presented at the Thirty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Economic History Association
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Fraboschi, Roberto O., “Historia de la agriculture, la ganaderia y la industria,” in Aparicio, Francisco de and Difieri, Horacio A., eds., La Argentina: Sutna de Geografia, 9 vols. (Buenos Aires, 1959), 4:178Google Scholar.

2 With the formation of the Sociedad Rural Argentina a few landowners sought to modernize Argentina's livestock industry. Their campaign lasted several decades, during which the society's Anales published articles on the latest techniques in the industry while its members led strong lobbying efforts in financial and political circles in defense of their interests. When cattle exporters in the late 1880s began paying much higher prices than the saladeros (who prepared salted beef for export) for stock raised in accordance with the Sociedad's preachings, recalcitrant ranchers began rapidly to modernize their breeding methods.

3 Scobie, James R., Argentina: A City and a Nation (New York, 1971), pp. 116–19Google Scholar.

4 Scobie, James R., Buenos Aires: Plaza to Suburb, 1870-1910 (New York, 1974), pp. 6768, 71Google Scholar.

5 Pulley, Raymond H., “The Railroad and Argentine National Development, 1852-1914,” The Americas, 23 (19661967), 6566CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 , Scobie, Buenos Aires, p. 11Google Scholar.

7 Kenworthy, Eldon, “Argentina: The Politics of Late Industrialization,” Foreign Affairs Quarterly, 45 (04 1967), 465Google Scholar.

8 Lipset, Seymour Martin, “Values, Education, and Entrepreneurship,” in Lipset, and Solan, Aldo, eds., Elites in Latin America (New York, 1967), pp. 56.Google ScholarSee also, Hoselitz, Bert F., Sociological Aspects of Economic Growth (Glencoe, 111., 1960), pp. 3031, 41-42Google Scholar.

9 Fillol, Tomas R., Social Factors In Economic Development: The Argentine Case (Cambridge, Mass., 1961), p. 22Google Scholar.

10 , Lipset, “Values, Education, and Entrepreneurship,” p. 23Google Scholar.

11 Ibid., p. 9.

12 Germani, Gino, Social Modernization and Economic Development in Argentina, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, no. 70.6 (Geneva, 1970), p. 33Google Scholar.

13 Kirsch, Henry W., Industrial Development in a Traditional Society. The Conflict of Entrepreneurship and Modernization in Chile (Gainesville, 1977), p. 67Google Scholar.

14 , Germani, Social Modernization, p. 33Google Scholar.

15 , Kirsch, Industrial Development, p. 157Google Scholar.

16 Hagen, Everett E., On the Theory of Social Change. How Economic Growth Begins (Homewood, 111., 1962), p. 217Google Scholar.

17 Higgins, Benjamin, “Requirements for Rapid Economic Development in Latin America,” in Vries, Eg-bert de De and Echavarria, José M, eds., Social Aspects of Economic Development in Latin America, 2 vols., UNESCO, Technology and Society Series (Tournai, Belgium, 1963), 1: 156–57Google Scholar.

18 , Germani, Social Modernization, p. 33,Google Scholarand , Kirsch, Industrial Development, p. 157Google Scholar.

19 , Kirsch, Industrial Development, p. 56Google Scholar.

20 Cochran, Thomas C., “Cultural Factors in Economic Growth,” this JOURNAL, 20 (12. 1960), 529–30Google Scholar.

21 Cochran, Thomas C. and Reina, Ruben E., Entrepreneurship in Argentine Culture: Torcuato Di Telia and S.I.A.M. (Philadelphia, 1962), pp. 262–63; see also pp. 267-69CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

22 Data from the 1864 Provincial Census reported in Llerena, Juan, “Cuadros descriptivos estadfs-ticos de las tres provincias de Cuyo,” Revisla de Buenos Aires, 10 (1866), 588592, and 11 (1866), 62-76Google Scholar.

23 Calderón, José Luis Masini, Mendoza hace den ahos: Historic de la provincia durante la presidencia de Mitre (Buenos Aires, 1967), p. 37Google Scholar; Mendoza, Provincia de, Anuario de la Direccidn General de Estadistica, 1881, chart between pp. 24 and 25; 1882, p. 22; 1883, p. 24Google Scholar; and Mendoza, Provincia de, La Provincia de Mendoza en su Exposicibn Interprovincial de 1885 (Mendoza, 1885), p. 14, and chart following p. 226Google Scholar.

24 Data on transandine commerce calculated from: Republica Argentina, Estadistica general del comercio exterior, 1874, pp. 423–24; 1884, pp. xii and xiv; 1895, pp. 257 and 260Google Scholar; and República Argentina, Registro estadistico, 1868, p., 230. Data on eastward commerce between 1878 and 1885 calculated from: “Gufas de importatión y exportaci6n,” Carpeta 41, Documentos 105-10, 113-15, 117-19; and Carpeta 197, Documentos 1-29, Archivo Historico de la Provincia de MendozaGoogle Scholar; , Mendoza, Anuario, 1881, chart between pp. 29 and 30; 1883, p. 33; 1883, pp. 44, 48-50; 1884, p. 43; andGoogle Scholar, Mendoza, Exposition Interprovincial, appendixGoogle Scholar.

25 , Mendoza, Anuario, 1884, n.pGoogle Scholar.

26 Analysis of the wine industry and of agriculture and stockraising based on data appearing in Arata, Pedro, et al., Investigation vinicola: Informes (Buenos Aires, 1903), p. 215Google Scholar; L'Agriculture et I ele-vage dans le Republique Argentine (Buenos Aires, 1888), pp. 173-75, 289–95;Google Scholar, Mendoza, Anuario, 1887, p. 90; 1911, p. 361; 1914, p. 205Google Scholar; , Mendoza, Memoria, 1903, p. 126, and chart following p. 130; andGoogle ScholarRepública Argentina, Tercer censo national (1914), 5: 915, 929-930, and 6:9, 189-91Google Scholar.

27 Population data from Mendoza, Anuario, 1914, p. 7Google Scholar; and República Argentina, Segundocenso nacional (1895), 2: 369.Google ScholarImmigration data from Mendoza, Anuario, 1911, p. 63Google Scholar; and Sintesis de los anuarios, 19151922, p. 13Google Scholar.

28 Villanueva, Carlos E., El litoral y el interior. Observations sobre ganaderiay agricultura (Buenos Aires; 1887); see p. 112 for exampleGoogle Scholar.

29 “Sociedad Viti-vinfcola,” Los Andes, 05 8, 1888, p. 1Google Scholar.

30 “La unidn gremial entre vinateros y bodegueros de Mendoza,” La Viticulture Argentina, 2nd yr., nos. 9, 10, 11 (01., Feb., March, 1911), p. 155Google Scholar.

31 Biographical information on Mendoza's leading families for the sketches that follow comes from a wide variety of sources, some of which yielded only a single piece of information. In general, the most helpful sources were Caldeidn, Masini, Mendoza hace den anos, pp. 4351, 55-56, and 86-89, where he reproduces lists of landholders, stockraisers, and merchantsGoogle Scholar; Mendoza, Provincia de, Padrón general de las vihas existentes en la provincia en 1883 (Mendoza, 1885)Google Scholar; Guinazu, Fernando Morales, Historia de la cultura mendocina (Mendoza, 1943), pp. 303–15;Google ScholarNewton, Jorge, Diccionario biografic del campo argentino (Buenos Aires, 1972)Google Scholar; Pedro Santos Martinez C, “Mendoza, 1862-1892: Ensayo de interpretaci6n sociopolitica,” in idem, ed., Contribuciones para la historia de Mendoza (Mendoza, 1969), pp. 131-78; and Tristany, Miguel R., Gula estadistica de la provincia de Mendoza (Mendoza, 1860), pp. 6164. Works of particular importance for each sketch are cited in the appropriate placeGoogle Scholar.

32 Arata, Pedro, Investigation vinicola complementaria de 1904 (Buenos Aires, 1904), pp. 110–11;Google ScholarElia, Angel G. de, Memoria sobre el estudio y traza definitiva del ferrocarril de Rio-Cuarto a San Luis, Mendoza y San Juan (Buenos Aires, 1872), pp. 4344;Google ScholarGalanti, A. N., La industria viti-vinicola argentina (Buenos Aires, 1900), pp. 112–13;Google ScholarMichael, G. and Mulhall, Edward T., Handbook of the River Plate Republics (London, 1875), p. 197Google Scholar; Villanueva, Joaqufn, “Regadi'o en Mendoza,” Boletin del De-portamento National de Agricultura, 7 (01. 31, 1883), 5960;Google ScholarRegistro estadistico de la República Argentina, 18691873Google Scholar; “La unibn gremial,” p. 169Google Scholar; and “Bolsa Vitivinicola,” Los Andes, 08. 29, 1907, p. 4Google Scholar.

33 Bustos, Luis Castro, Justo Castro, gobemador de San Juan (Buenos Aires, 1939), pp. 3941 fn.Google Scholar; Fernandez, Mirta, et al., “Mendoza y el litoral al comenzar la Guerra del Paraguay,” Revista de la Junta de Estudios Historicos de Mendoza, 2nd ser., 2, no. 7 (1972), 678–79;Google Scholar“Mendoza,” Review of the River Plate, 05 7, 1892, p. 13Google Scholar; Alcorta, Santiago, ed., La Repiiblica Argentina en la Exposition Universal de Paris de 1889 (Paris, 1890), p. 29Google Scholar; , Arata, Investigation complementaria, p. 110Google Scholar; , Galanti, La in-dustria vitivinicola, pp. 101–02;Google ScholarJ.A.P., “El Trapiche: el vifledo mas grande de Mendoza,” Los Andes, 02. 24, 1888, p. 1Google Scholar; and Rodriguez, Luis D., La Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1908), p. 273Google Scholar.

34 Bolet'm del Departamento National de Agricultura, 8 (09. 15, 1884), 593nGoogle Scholar; Civit, Emilio, Los vi-hedos de Francia y los de Mendoza (Mendoza, 1887)Google Scholar; , Mendoza, Exposición interprovincial, p. 75Google Scholar; “La plantacion de la vid en Mendoza,” Los Andes, 05 4, 1888, p. 1Google Scholar; , Galanti, La industria vitivinicola, pp. 101–03;Google Scholarand Guinazu, Morales, Historia de la cullura mendocina, p. 306Google Scholar.

35 Navarro, Emilio Manurin, Contribution al estudio de la historia vitivinicola argentina (Mendoza, 1967), pp. 138–39 fnGoogle Scholar.

36 , Alcorta, Expositión de Paris; pp. 2948;Google Scholar“Mendora,” Review of the River Plate, 05 7, 1892, p. 13Google Scholar; , Arata, Investigation complementaria, p. 110; andGoogle Scholar, Rodriguez, La Argentina, 1908, p. 273, for information on Honorio Barraquero; andGoogle ScholarCorreas, Edmundo, “Doctor Ezequiel Tabanera (1830-1912),” Revista de la Junta de Estudios Historicos de Mendoza, 2nd ser., 1, no. 8 (1975), 605–06;Google ScholarDenis, Paul Y., “San Rafael: La Ciudad y su región,” Boletin de Estudios Geograficos (Mendoza) 16 (06-Dec. 1969), 231–32;Google Scholar, Mendoza, Memoria, 1903, p. 127Google Scholar; and , Rodriquez, La Argentina, 1912, pp. 314316, for information on Tabanera and the Bombal familyGoogle Scholar.

37 , Lipset and , Solari, Elites in Latin America, p. viii. A similar argument is made byGoogle ScholarEchavarria, José Medina, “A Theoretical Model of Development Applicable to Latin America,” in De Vries and Echavarria, Social Aspects, p. 36Google Scholar.

38 Based on calculations made from Mendoza, Anuario, 1909, p. 483, 487, 491; 1910, p. 16; 1911, p. 61; 1912, p. 15; 1913, p. 15; and 1914, p. 7Google Scholar.

39 Repiiblica Argentina, Departamento General de Inmigración, La provincia de Mendoza (Buenos Aires, 1893), p. 16, andGoogle ScholarTercer censo national (1914), 3:219Google Scholar.

40 Segundo censo national (1895), 3:183–84,Google Scholarand Tercer censo national (1914), 5:396Google Scholar.

41 , Mendoza, Anuario, 1909, p. 355Google Scholar.

42 , Latzina, L'agriculture, p. 373Google Scholar.

43 Tercer censo national (1914), 5:396Google Scholar.

44 Scobie, James R., Revolution on the Pampas: A Social History of Argentine Wheat, 1860-1910 (2nd. ed.; Austin, 1967), p. 31Google Scholar.

45 The distribution of landholdings by size based on data in Tercer censo national (1914), 5:207; distribution of wineries by capacity based on data appearing inGoogle Scholar, Rodriguez, La Argentina, 1912, p. 309Google Scholar.

46 Particularly useful for information bearing on the activities of immigrants in Mendoza are Molins, Jaime W. and Dantil, Jorge, eds., La Republica Argentina.Region de Cuyo: San Juan, Mendoza, San Luis (Buenos Aires, 1922?)Google Scholar; and Sergi, Jorge F., Historia de los italianos en la Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1940)Google Scholar.

47 For an idea of the mixed composition of these societies' membership see: “La unión gremial, ” p. 169; Centra Comercial, Solicitud (Mendoza, 1897), pp. 78;Google Scholar“Centra viti-vinfcola,” Los Andes, 06 1, 1894, p. 1; and for some examples of their activities seeGoogle ScholarCentra Comercial, Esposicion (Mendoza, 1894),Google ScholarMemoria (Mendoza, 1893),Google Scholarand Solicitud (Mendoza, 1897)Google Scholar; and Centro Vitivini'cola Argentino, Petition (Buenos Aires, 1895),Google Scholarand Peticion (Buenos Aires, 1896)Google Scholar.

48 Germani, SocialModernization, p. 4, andGoogle Scholar, Hoselitz, Sociological Aspects of Growth, p. 5Google Scholar.

49 Geertz, Clifford, Peddlers and Princes: Social Change and Economic Modernization in Two Indonesian Towns (Chicago, 1968), p. 154Google Scholar.

50 Nash, Manning, Machine Age Maya: The Industrialization of a Guatemalan Community (Chicago, 1967), esp. pp. 144–50Google Scholar.

51 , Higgins, “Requirements for Rapid Development,” pp. 157–58Google Scholar.