Are Latin America's corporate elites transnationally interconnected? A network analysis of interlocking directorates Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Affairs (2014, forthcoming) Author Julian Cardenas Affiliation Research fellow Lateinamerika-Institut Freie Universität Berlin Rüdesheimer Str. 54, 14197 Berlin, Germany Assistant Professor Department of Sociology Universidad de Antioquia Calle 67 nº 53-108, Medellin, Colombia Email:
[email protected] Research financed by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), grant number CA1271/1-1 1 Are Latin America’s corporate elites transnationally interconnected? A network analysis of interlocking directorates Abstract Conflicting perspectives appear when thinking about the emergence of a cohesive transnational corporate network in Latin America. On the one hand, regional political integration, foreign investment growth, increased cross-border mergers and acquisitions, cultural and linguistic homogeneity may have fostered transnational networks among Latin America’s corporate elites. On the other hand, domestic-based business groups, family control and trade orientation to the USA may have hindered the emergence of a cohesive transnational corporate network in Latin America. On the basis of a network analysis of interlocking directorates among the 300 largest corporations in Latin America, I inquire whether the region’s corporate elites are interconnected at the transnational level and form a cohesive transnational corporate network. I found few transnational interlocks,