The paradox of nationality: Foreign investment in Portuguese Africa (1890–1974)

Abstract

The nationality of contemporary multinational corporations has become increasingly ambiguous, and this ambiguity is far from exclusive to the current global economy; a similar past ambivalence occurred with multinational investments in Portuguese colonies. This study analyses how multinationals handle strategic decision-making and governance when the corporate centre is ambiguous. It uses archival data on actual corporate decisions to explore how the headquarters’ strategic and administrative functions split across national centres. The results emphasise that the balance of power among different locations depended on accessing capital, knowledge, and specialised services. Three dynamic factors emerged to explain the changes in corporate decision-making configurations over time: project management capabilities, the project’s duration, and capital intensity. However, there was no single evolutionary profile. Combining or choosing between nationality legacies for locating corporate functions was a strategic choice, more dependent on firm-specific aspects than on contextual constraints.

Keywords:

• Multinationals
• nationality
• headquarters
• corporate strategy
• Portugal
• colonial business
• Angola
• Mozambique

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees, this issue’s editors (Alfred Reckendrees, Boris Gehlen, Christian Marx) and Emanuel Gomes for helpful comments and their support in advancing this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The research for this article was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under grants UID/ECO/00124/2013,UIDB/04521/2020 and POR Lisboa under grant LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007722.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Álvaro Ferreira da Silva

Álvaro Ferreira da Silva has a PhD in History from the European University Institute (Florence) and is an Associate Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics (Lisbon). His current research focuses on business groups, international business, and financial crises in history. He served as Associate Dean for Research (2012-18) and University Pro-Rector (2005-07), and is currently an elected member of Nova SBE Supervisory Council.

Pedro Neves

Pedro Neves is an Assistant Professor at ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics & Management, University of Lisbon, and integrates the Value and Finance group at CSG/ISEG – Research in Social Sciences and Management. His research focuses on big business and business groups in historical perspective, evolution of corporate networks, and development of capital markets. He serves currently in the executive boards of CSG/ISEG and APHES – Portuguese Economic and Social History Association.