Underdog Capitalism
Book •
Geoffrey Jones's 'Underdog Capitalism' examines how locally owned firms in Africa, Asia, and Latin America developed over the past hundred years, challenging narratives that focus on failure.
The book emphasizes entrepreneurial success under differing institutional conditions and highlights institutional advantages rather than voids that aided business growth.
Jones explores how such firms adapted, innovated, and sometimes outperformed expectations despite structural constraints, with implications for understanding modern economic development.
It reframes conventional business-history stories by focusing on agency, local strategies, and context-specific pathways to growth.
The work seeks to explain broader patterns including China's rapid ascent by identifying favorable institutional features rather than solely deficits.
The book emphasizes entrepreneurial success under differing institutional conditions and highlights institutional advantages rather than voids that aided business growth.
Jones explores how such firms adapted, innovated, and sometimes outperformed expectations despite structural constraints, with implications for understanding modern economic development.
It reframes conventional business-history stories by focusing on agency, local strategies, and context-specific pathways to growth.
The work seeks to explain broader patterns including China's rapid ascent by identifying favorable institutional features rather than solely deficits.
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Geoffrey Jones
Geoffrey Jones and Sabine Pitteloud eds., "The Cambridge Companion to the History of Multinationals and Society" (Cambridge UP, 2026)
Mentioned by
Geoffrey Jones
Geoffrey Jones and Sabine Pitteloud eds., "The Cambridge Companion to the History of Multinationals and Society" (Cambridge UP, 2026)
