Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

Geoffrey  Jones

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

Abstract

This working paper examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of Latin America during the globalization waves between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much wealth for the region, this was at the cost of massive ecological destruction in Latin America. During the first global economy considerable wealth was created from the exploitation of natural resources for the land-owning elite in Latin America, at the cost of large-scale ecological destruction. During the Great Reversal in the mid-20th century, public policies aimed at “catching up” resulted in the co-proliferation of hydro-electric schemes and resulting co-creation of ecological damage by firms and governments. In the new global economy since 1980, renewed economic growth and consumerism resulted in mountains of waste in increasingly polluted mega-cities. Biodiversity and the natural environment have been challenged across the subcontinent. However, there were interesting positives as these ecological horrors also created opportunities for a surprising cohort of green businesses across sectors ranging from beauty and health to ecotourism. In the 21st century, both business and governments in the region needed to address sustainability issues far more seriously, before a point of no return was reached.

Keywords: Globalization; Natural Environment; Outcome or Result; Business History; Pollution and Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Tourism Industry; Latin America;

Language: English

Format: Print

33 pages

SSRN Read Now

Citation:

Jones, Geoffrey. "Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-009, August 2018.

Concerns the growth of multinational trading companies in the first global economy. Examines two Scottish-owned merchant houses, Jardine Matheson and James Finlay, and shows their changing trade and investment strategies as well as their use of an organizational form later known as business groups. Also demonstrates the role of ethnic networks in globalization during this historical period. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

Book | 2018

Varieties of Green Business: Industries, Nations and Time

G. Jones

Published at a time of ever-increasing warnings that the pace of climate change and other environmental changes risks making the Earth unsustainable within our own lifetimes, this book looks at the past of green business to identify lessons for the future. It provides rich new evidence and insights on green business as it examines its variation between industries and nations, and over time. It shows the deep historical origins of endeavors to create for-profit businesses that were more responsible and sustainable, but also how these strategies have faced constraints, trade-offs and challenges of legitimacy. The industries covered range from sustainable finance and solar energy, to organic food and wine, eco-tourism and outdoor clothing. Strategies pursued range from incremental shifts towards sustainability to abandoning for-profit business entirely and re-wilding and conserving millions of acres of lands in Latin America. The book's distinctiveness lies in the use of original empirical data, and the willingness to engage with both successful and unsuccessful cases. The wide geographical coverage includes not only the United States and Europe, but also less studied settings, including Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Japan. The book serves as a warning against facile beliefs in the potential of win/win solutions as business tries to reduce its environmental impact, or even save the planet. The lesson of history is that making business sustainable is a hard journey, littered with system-wide roadblocks, but it is a journey that is possible, and one that is urgently needed.

Keywords: Green Business; sustainability; business history; eco-tourism; organic wine; organic food; waste management; sustainable finance; Ethics; Finance; History; Entrepreneurship; Accommodations Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Banking Industry; Energy Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Green Technology Industry; Tourism Industry; Europe; Asia; Latin America; North and Central America; New Zealand;

Citation:

Jones, G. Varieties of Green Business: Industries, Nations and Time. Northamption, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018. View Details

Cite View Details Purchase

Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small, family-owned match business into a $600 million global match empire. Despite the economic and political disruptions of the interwar period, Swedish Match owned manufacturing operations in 36 countries, had monopolies in 16 countries, and controlled 40% of the world's match production. Kreuger companies lent over $300 million dollars to governments in Europe, Latin America, and Asia in exchange for national match monopolies. Relying on international capital markets to finance acquisitions and monopoly deals, by 1929 the stocks and bonds of Kreuger companies were the most widely held securities in the United States and the world. After Kreuger's 1932 suicide, forensic auditors discovered that Kreuger had operated a giant pyramid scheme. His accounts were ridden with fictitious assets, the truth hidden in a maze of over 400 subsidiary companies. Swedish Match's deficits exceeded Sweden's national debt.

Faculty & Research

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author