Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69 interviews with leaders of...

We find econometric evidence that particular inter-firm networks--"business groups"--materially affect the broad patterns of economic performance in 12 of the following 13 emerging markets: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan,...