Entrepreneurship in South America

Understanding context is essential to succeed in entrepreneurship. South America is a land of contrasts, and context is perhaps even more important here than elsewhere. It is a continent of superlatives, home to rain forest and desert. Influenced by the environment, entrepreneurship varies greatly across this vast continent. Entrepreneurship can be considered a vehicle to foster inclusive economic development.

Argentina possesses many natural resources, a large and educated middle-class, and an innovative and entrepreneurial culture; however, over the last century, the country has struggled to achieve steady economic growth. This chapter describes how in a particular location of Argentina, the city of Rafaela, the entrepreneurial dynamics brought by the first Italian and Swiss immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century set the pace for the development of this thriving city. This entrepreneurial dynamic is catalyzed by the conjoint work of actors from the public and private sectors supported by the contribution of academic institutions. This entrepreneurial ecosystem allows the city to formulate policies and innovate technology and processes for the development of a sustainable economy.

The Plurinational State of Bolivia is known to be a developing country with a rebellious population and rich in natural resources. It is known in an international context regarding its entrepreneurial ecosystem, which has been rapidly developing during the last 15 years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic which accelerated the technological transformation and created articulations between institutions in order to give a merged and integral support to entrepreneurs.

Because of its strategic geographical position, Bolivia is an important connector in Latin America, allowing not only entrepreneurship to flourish into neighboring countries, but also, by being the shortest route for international ventures to grow in the country as well.

In the last 6 months, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolivia has been able to adapt and confront the crisis, rapidly being part of the world’s vision of virtual businesses, however, there is still the need to improve various factors of doing business, such as taxation, bureaucracy, and construction permits.

Even though the current entrepreneurial situation of the country doesn’t offer a positive perspective, changes are being made to adapt and support entrepreneurs in the country. Today, more than 35 “hubs” exist, demonstrating the capacity of involved institutions to articulate and strategically plan their support.

This chapter depicts a glance picture of Brazil’s state of entrepreneurship. It begins with a historical overview and establishment of the state. It describes the challenges that Brazil has faced as well as its current issues. The current state of entrepreneurship, the business environment, and entrepreneurs and small business owners’ problems are discussed. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further development of entrepreneurship in Brazil.

Over the last decades, the Chilean economy and institutions have experienced substantial growth and development, respectively. Moreover, the country’s government has launched programs to support Chilean and foreign start-ups. This scenario has created an ideal business environment for entrepreneurship. However, recent political instability and the discussion of a new Constitution raise questions about the country’s future of entrepreneurship. This chapter begins by describing the historical context of Chile from its establishment until 2018. Then, it discusses the environment of entrepreneurship in Chile by highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by a close inspection of recent political challenges that the country faces and can affect the future of entrepreneurship. Finally, the chapter presents the case of NotCo, an example of a highly innovative start-up from Chile that, amidst the political and health challenges, can become a leading actor in the global plant-based protein market.

The chapter refers to the strategic adaptations made by Colombian entrepreneurs, throughout their business life cycle, and the importance they give to their social relationships in the process of evolution of their business activity, aspects of its idiosyncrasy, and the door is opened to interpret the microenterprise as a complex organism that reacts to its environment.

In Ecuador, as in many countries worldwide, entrepreneurship has gained a great deal of importance in the past decade, both as an economic and as scholarly activities, and as the focus of public policy. However, entrepreneurial activities are not new in this small, open economy, located by the Pacific Ocean in the northern part of South America. Throughout its history, the primary export productive specialization of Ecuador has been accompanied by a succession of boom-and-bust cycles usually linked to the production of a single commodity. In the latest cycle, between 2004 and 2014, there was an unprecedented inflow of foreign currency due to the boom of commodity prices, in particular oil, whose revenues contributed to financing the government’s social and infrastructural plans in that decade. This abruptly ended after the collapse in the price of oil in 2014, and the recovery was still underway when the pandemic hit this economy. In times of crisis, entrepreneurial activities are a necessity, and this country has long been continuously experiencing events that have challenged the entrepreneurial spirit of the Ecuadorian people.

This chapter proposes to delve into the history and current practice of entrepreneurship in French Guiana. It sheds light on the unique characteristics of entrepreneurship in this context, which is generally overlooked in the management literature. One of the insights gained from such a context is that collective entrepreneurship has historically served as a rehumanizing process in a post-slavery society. The chapter also illuminates how an unusually young and highly multicultural society experiences the emergence of an entrepreneurial ecosystem despite massive structural barriers, by leveraging its human potential and its uniquely rich biodiversity.

Guyana, formerly British Guiana, is located in the northern region of South America, bordered by Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, and the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 214,969 square kilometers, a population of 782,766, and is the third smallest country on the continent. The country is sparsely populated and underdeveloped but has an abundance of untapped natural resources. Historically, the local private sector has been marginalized and dominated, first by the colonial government and the foreign private sector, then by successive postcolonial socialist-oriented governments that privileged state entrepreneurship and state economic control. In the latter half of the 1980s, a collapsing economy led to austerity measures by way of an IMF-enforced structural adjustment program, the abandonment of the atrophied socialist pathway, divestment and privatization of state-owned enterprises, and wooing of foreign investment through a policy of industrialization by invitation. Guyana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is burdened by poor infrastructure, high taxes, excessive regulations, and inadequate financing for borrowing and investment. Much of Guyana’s local entrepreneurship is conducted in the informal sector and underground economy which have been spawning a revenant capitalist culture opposed to state control and paying taxes. Over the past five years, successive governments have been making positive policy pronouncements, privileging entrepreneurs, and primacy for the private sector. The discovery of large deposits of oil and natural gas in 2015 and subsequent production by a plethora of prominent transnational enterprises in 2020 have catapulted the country’s fortunes, making Guyana the fastest growing economy in the world and opening previously unimagined vistas for foreign and local entrepreneurs.

With a remarkable history, Paraguay has evolved throughout the centuries. During those eras, the country has turned into the Republic of Paraguay, and its economy has changed dramatically. Like most South American countries, the entrepreneurial ecosystem is changing gradually. In this chapter, the authors review the historical context and then discuss the environment for entrepreneurship. Some future directions are explored, and collective entrepreneurship is elaborated upon by exploring the Mennonite community in Paraguay. Finally, the chapter concludes with some remarks for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars.

This chapter presents the characteristics of the Peruvian Entrepreneurial environment. First, it describes enduring country conditions affecting the development and evolution of new ventures. Next, the chapter presents recent efforts done by different actors to develop a supportive ecosystem that encourages innovative startups capable of escalating rapidly at the national and regional levels. The chapter presents the case of Quantum Talent, an example of this new type of startup that internationalized early to different countries within the region.

Suriname is a multicultural Caribbean country with a very long historical background. As a factor-driven economy, Suriname relies on its agricultural and natural resources. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs have played a significant role in their economy. Surprisingly, immigrant entrepreneurs from other countries or Surinamese entrepreneurs who have acted as the socio-economic change agents for many years have rarely studied in academic research. Therefore, this chapter provides a better understanding of the country, its historical background, and the environment for entrepreneurship. As shown in this chapter, the entrepreneurship ecosystem is not developed well, but there are many possibilities to explore, evaluate, and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities to create value. Although limited information exists about Surinamese entrepreneurs, the authors introduce a female Surinamese entrepreneur, and finally, the chapter concludes with some future directions and some concluding remarks.

This chapter provides insight into the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the small and medium-size enterprises situation in Uruguay. The study begins with a historical overview, analyzes the current state of entrepreneurship, the business environment and ends highlighting the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors in the country.

Venezuelan entrepreneur’s face an enormous challenge in surviving both an economy that has collapsed (with an estimated cumulative GDP decline of 75% between 2014 and 2020), and a notorious absence of public policies aimed at promoting and consolidating a healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem. In spite of this, several remarkable dynamic initiatives prove that opportunities may arise for those with the motivations, right skills, and capabilities. The reconstruction of the Venezuelan business sector and its economy necessarily requires supporting and nurturing these types of individual initiatives. This effort requires that all actors of the ecosystem create opportunities for collaboration, as well as increasing the participation of new actors, such as the large and increasing Venezuelan diaspora.

Informal financial services ranging from loans with family members to community-based savings groups serve entrepreneurs and households in South America. With several hundred million people lacking access to formal banking services in the region, varied alternative financial services are offered by informal and semiformal providers. Individuals and small business owners seek loans, savings services, and payment activities through shadow financial sources influenced by tradition, cultural norms, and economic necessity.