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The Latin American merger and acquisition (M&A) market offers enormous opportunities. M&A activity in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela is examined and compared with M&A activity in the United States. Characteristics examined include the industries and form of ownership of the target firms, the types of transactions, and the home countries of the acquiring firms. Differences are found between characteristics of M&A activity in the Latin American countries and the United States. Differences are also found among the characteristics of M&A activity in the various Latin American countries. Implications for managers and areas in need of additional research are discussed.

This paper explores the relationship between foreign direct investments and financial reporting changes via financial development in 12 Latin American countries during the period from 1997 to 2010.

In order to control the possible endogeneity problem, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique has been conducted using country-level panel data obtained from the World Development Indicators website.

The empirical analyses provide evidence that international accounting standards have a significant effect on foreign direct investments. However, financial development associated with such standards reduces this positive effect. This is an important finding, suggesting that investors are likely to prefer portfolio to direct investments in Latin American financial markets that require or permit the use of international accounting standards.

The conclusions that have been drawn from this study are important for investors, creditors, and regulators. Although international accounting standards appear to affect foreign investments, there could be a lack of adaptation of these standards to specific economic environments due to cultural, educational, and economic factors. Therefore, firms, regulators, professional organizations, and accounting firms should make necessary arrangements so that the benefits of using these standards increase their costs.

The study contributes to the international accounting literature by examining the effects of international accounting standards and financial development on foreign direct investments in Latin America.

Previous cross‐cultural leadership research has provided limited information about Latin American leadership. In an effort to address this gap in the literature, this paper is designed to aid in understanding the similarities in Latin American leadership. The author proposes that the core of Latin American cultures is a common culture, which has a consistent effect on leader behaviors. Based on this common culture, it is proposed that leaders in most Latin American countries can be characterized as traditional leaders (El Patrón). In some countries, leadership is evolving toward a modern conceptualization of leadership, El Líder Moderno. Preliminary data supported the dominance of El Patrón and a movement in Mexico toward El Líder Moderno.

The purpose of this study is to identify the main cultural factors that influence Latin American consumers’ intentions to purchase US brands. Although culture and cultural orientation have been well researched in international business and marketing literature, there is a lack of research on the relationship between consumers’ cultural orientation and their bias towards foreign and domestic products.

The paper reviews the extant literature with a particular emphasis on the key constructs of consumer ethnocentrism, consumer xenocentrism, conspicuous consumption and consumers’ national characteristics. Based on this review, the authors propose a conceptual model showing the influence of cultural orientation on the selection of US brands in Latin America.

The review of the literature shows that previous studies support the proposition of cultural orientation and preferences for foreign versus domestic products among Latin American consumers. Accordingly, in their conceptual framework, the authors posit that consumer ethnocentrism negatively influences the selection of US brands, while xenocentrism does the opposite. Conspicuous consumption is posited as moderating the influence of consumer xenocentrism on purchase intentions of the US brands. On the other hand, national characteristics of consumers in Latin America are posited as moderating the influence of both consumer ethnocentrism and consumer xenocentrism on the selection of US brands.

The authors also present important theoretical and practical implications that contribute to the growing body of research on consumer acculturation and country of origin effects, providing a better interpretation of consumer behaviour in the context of international and domestic markets.

This study fills a significant gap in the understanding of the impact of cultural orientation and conspicuous consumption on selection of US brands in Latin America. Its conceptual framework can provide the basis for future empirical studies and also improve understanding of emerging markets.

According to official statements, BRI is a Chinese call for global cooperation, based on five priorities: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds. The purpose of this paper is, primarily, to describe and contextualize the official discourse of China's foreign policy toward Latin America, emphasizing on BRI. On that basis, the author aims to contrast official rhetoric with real facts, bringing problematic cases associated with implementing BRI in Asian and African developing countries, so as to discuss possible challenges that Latin America can encounter when implementing the initiative. Finally, the author evaluates potential implications of resembling the Chinese three-level scheme of development in the region and make suggestions on this subject.

In an effort to evaluate possible implications of BRI in Latin America, the paper describes and contextualizes Chinese foreign policy official rhetoric toward the region's countries. Based on that, the author brings to discussion Asian and African experiences in the implementation of the initiative and raise questions on controversial issues that Latin America could meet when enforcing BRI-related projects.

As a part of its new foreign and economic policies, China continues to strengthen its engagement with Latin American countries, enlarging its strategy though the promotion of BRI. If Latin American countries, through BRI, seek to replicate the Chinese three-level of development scheme, including domestic, regional and global scopes, certain controversial issues cannot be ignored in the design and implementation processes. Also, equal participation of Chinese and Latin American governments, societies and enterprises is decisive if the goal is to settle a long-term development scenario for the region.

The central thesis of this paper is that the implementation of BRI in Latin American countries could potentially replicate the Chinese three-level development proposal. To achieve such an ambitious goal, much depends on how Latin American countries define and enforce BRI projects. Full understanding of those challenges requires close attention to what the Chinese official rhetoric claims and what actually puts into practice in other developing countries already involved in BRI, so as to anticipate possible consequences for the region.

The authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of countries embedded in this continent.

Using secondary data obtained from various sources, the authors adopted a flexible pattern matching methodology, which involves linking theoretical propositions with actual observed patterns. For each proposition, the authors categorize the comparison with the observed data as either confirming or rivaling the expected patterns in the clusters.

This study’s findings reveal that women have more leadership and employment opportunities in the first cluster (Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) than in the second (Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). The authors propose that these differences are the result of higher tolerance for women in political leadership positions and of the presence of larger and more internationally expanding corporations in the first cluster. We also find differences between two groups of women: female family members and female nonfamily members, with the former being granted much more opportunities than the latter.

This research increases the understanding of potential avenues for managers and policymakers in Latin America to foster gender diversity as a means to remain competitive in a global market. While actions at the state level may be more long-term oriented, others, such as those taken by small and medium-sized family businesses may have more immediate effects in minimizing gender biases and encouraging a greater participation of females in business.

By differentiating between two clusters of countries in Latin America, and by making careful consideration of whether females have family ties, the authors provide a more realistic and contextualized theoretical map that depicts the situation of women in Latin American family businesses. This contextualization is one of the first that attempts to examine how multiple institutional logics impact women in family businesses in an underexplored region of the world while differentiating between female family members and female nonfamily members. These findings inform policymakers and family business owners in Latin America on the peculiar challenges that women encounter in their context, while calling for more measures promote the active presence of females in Latin American family businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to review the contributions of what has been established as Latin American thought, as science, technology, and innovation (STI) in Latin America have been strongly related to development.

The analysis method is based on the review of a group of Latin American and Latinoamericanista (Latin Americanist) authors who were selected on the basis of their contributions to the explanation and proposals of public policy related to STI. The following are some of the questions that guide the analysis. How much has STI in Latin American thought contributed to the development theory? Given the fact that there are other dominant mainstreams, can we say that Latin American thought is still relevant?

The main conclusion of this work is that Latin American thought is still applied to current Latin American development discussions. This can be proven by the creation of particular concepts and analytical frameworks such as structural heterogeneity, development styles, authentic and spurious competitiveness, Sabato’s Triangle, the centre-periphery model, and STI policy practices.

This paper gathered contributions and categorised them into three dimensions: state participation (intensity, composition), industrialisation as the impulse for development, and instruments and public policy actions that can be implemented or have already been implemented.

El propósito de este trabajo es el de reflexionar sobre algunas aportaciones provenientes de lo que hemos denominado pensamiento latinoamericano en relación con la innovación, la ciencia, la tecnología y su relación con el desarrollo.

El método de análisis se basa en la revisión de un conjunto de autores latinoamericanos y latinoamericanistas que hemos seleccionado con base en sus aportaciones para la explicación y sus propuestas de política pública en relación con la CTI. Algunas preguntas que guían nuestro análisis son las siguientes: ¿en qué medida el pensamiento latinoamericano en CTI ha contribuido a la teoría del desarrollo? y ¿dada la existencia de otros enfoques que predominan como pensamiento único, podemos hablar de una vigencia del pensamiento latinoamericano?

La principal conclusión de nuestro trabajo es que hay un pensamiento latinoamericano vigente que ha sido y aún es un referente actual para la discusión del desarrollo en la región latinoamericana, como lo muestran la creación de conceptos y esquemas analíticos como los de heterogeneidad estructural, estilos de desarrollo, la competitividad auténtica y espuria, el Triángulo de Sábato, centro-periferia, así como estrategias de política en CTI.

Como parte del marco analítico hemos agrupado al conjunto de aportaciones en tres direcciones: a) la participación del Estado (intensidad, composición); b) la industrialización como impulso al desarrollo y c) los instrumentos y medidas de política pública a implementar o que han sido implementados.