Inversiones, transferencia tecnológica y rentabilidad de las empresas extranjeras de electricidad en Argentina. La sociedad de Electricidad de Rosario, 1910-1956

Abstract

The article analyzes the performance of the Sociedad de Electricidad de Rosario, since it was founded in 1910 until its transference to the public company Agua y Energía Eléctrica in 1956. SER was the first electric company of the Belgian holding company SOFINA in Argentina; and its study allows us to evaluate the patterns of investment and the strategies of the foreign holding companies that operated in Argentina from the construction of the electric systems until its nationalization as well as determine the state regulation during the private management of the electric utilities. We analyze the evolution of capital, revenues, expenses and utilities, the composition and fluctuation of the investments related with the transfer of technology, and also the mechanisms of public intervention, in order to determine the factors that affected company performance, including the role of economic changes.