Business attitudes towards internationalization: a study of large Brazilian companies

• Grant number: 22/08403-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: André Vereta Nahoum
• Grantee: Tales Almeida Mançano Fernandes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project proposes an analysis of the attitudes of large Brazilian companies towards the internationalization of their economic activities, which has increased significantly in the last two decades. Some of them have become the largest of their sectors in the Americas or in the world. This is the case of Ambev, Braskem, Gerdau and JBS. I will seek to understand how internationalization has impacted the political attitudes of these corporations in Brazil from the perspective left by the literature on the business as a political actor and from a sociological approach to the varieties of capitalism and growth regimes. The studies that dealt with the internationalization of companies were not interested in the impact of this process on the political behavior of companies. Studies on business attitudes have not yet looked at how the geographic diversification of economic interests and the performance of companies in different nations has the potential to change such attitudes. Both a national industry dependent on the State and the business community associated with foreign capital were considered by the literature as relevant groups with different interests. The research will investigate whether internationalized companies with national capital have attitudes that can differentiate them from these other groups. Literature dealing with varieties of capitalism and growth regimes brings gains by connecting the perspective of companies to an analysis of Brazilian capitalism. To investigate this issue, a literature review will be carried out on the internationalization of companies and on the business community as a political actor and a collection and content analysis of statements by directors of these 4 companies in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. This material will allow accessing attitudes of companies throughout their internationalization, and will be used to analyze whether these companies are distinguished from other fractions of the business community.