EMPRESARIOS Y POLÍTICA EN COLOMBIA: UN ESTUDIO DE CASO DEL GOBIERNO SAMPER (1994-1998)

Abstract

This article analyzes the failure of Colombian business to maintain an effective collective response to the crisis unleashed by the drug-scandal surrounding the administration of President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998). The article suggests that the failure can be explained by the behavior of the country’s four largest diversified business groups (grupos)—a form of business organization prevalent throughout Latin America—who supported the administration. This undermined the attempt by organized business to respond to crisis collectively. Instead of an isolated phenomenon, the article suggests this organizational contradiction is common in Colombia's modern corporate landscape and has important implications for other policy areas. The article also analyzes why the grupos supported Samper. In part, the answer draws from explanations centered on rent-seeking (grupos benefited from the privatization process) and on sunk costs (grupos had contributed generously to Samper’s campaign). However, this article suggests that an unexplored explanation is their unique dependence on the state. By the nature of their main economic activities and their size, grupos depend on the state for credit, contracts, and regulation like few other business actors in Colombia. This shapes their preferences in favor of protecting their access to the state to the detriment of collective business endeavors.