The King and I: monarchies and the performance of business groups

摘要

Large, highly diversified business groups are a prominent feature of the industrial landscape of most emerging economies. Their competitiveness has been the topic of much debate in the international business literature. This paper intervenes in this debate by utilising data from Thailand and demonstrating that whereas business groups create value by filling institutional voids, the political context of a country and the investment of powerful actors in particular groups can cause great variance across business groups' performance.