Scrambling for Survival. How Firms Adjusted to the Recent Reforms in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay

摘要

The volume brings together four studies of how firms adjusted to the recent reforms in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. The authors carried out interviews with managers in manufacturing and agricultural exporting firms that elicited reactions about the favorable and unfavorable shocks caused by the reforms, the credibility and consistency of the reform packages, and the major adjustments in the firms' operations. The findings show that firms benefited from the removal of price controls, restrictive labor laws, and laws restricting the purchase of foreign know-how. But they were hurt by the pronounced real exchange rate appreciation and high real interest rates for peso borrowing toward the end of the reforms. In Argentina and Uruguay policy reversals often delayed adjustments in the operation of firms. Nonetheless, almost all managers reported that the reforms forced them to increase their operating efficiency because of greater import competition. (Copyright (c) 1985, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank.)