Technological performance, economic performance and behaviour: a study of Argentinean firms during the 1990s

Based on empirical information for the Argentinean case, it is claimed that the biological metaphor which states that an open market is sufficient to select the best performing firms is often invalid, in a macroeconomic context characterised by high degrees of uncertainty. In such an environment, it could be rational for profit-seeking individuals to avoid any long-term tie to any particular policy. Like policy-making itself in Argentina during the 1990s, individual decisions were driven by short-term objectives, which hampered technological performance. The paper uses Survey information in econometric models to demonstrate that two distinct patterns of behaviour emerged: one corresponding to technological performance and the other to economic performance.