State and business internationalization: the historical path of the Canadian firm Bombardier

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to the discussion about the role of the state, and national trajectories in  business expansion strategies of the last 50 years. For this, the history of the Canadian firm Bombardier,
world leader in the manufacture of railway and aeronautical equipment, is analyzed. A  developed country and a renowned firm were chosen to show that the globalizing discourse that since the 1970s proposes
openness and “free market” was adopted abroad from these nations. Because within countries, such as Canada, protectionist policies, corporate subsidies and export promotion with taxpayer resources were the
basis for the expansion of companies such as Bombardier. This trajectory was combined with the privatization of state-owned transport equipment firms in countries such as Mexico, in the 1980s and 1990s, giving Bombardier the possibility of acquiring capabilities and technology external that consolidated its global production network.