Federalism and the Entrepreneurial State at the Subnational Level: Characteristics and Recent Conformation of the Provincial Public Enterprises Sector in Argentina

Abstract

The work seeks to address the main characteristics of the recent scenario of provincial public enterprises in Argentina, in the framework of federalism and changes in the role of the state in recent decades. It is based on a general characterization of the provincial public business sector, considering various important dimensions; the origins of the currently existing provincial companies are identified in order to outline some explanatory keys about their formation and recent course. To that end, primary and secondary sources of various kinds were used, leading to the construction of a database of provincial public companies. As a result, some important characteristics were identified (uneven territorial distribution, wide variety of economic activities, and predominance of flexible legal formats). Likewise, the successive stages of emergence of the currently existing provincial companies and their possible links with the changes that have occurred at a general level were examined.