Successes and Failures of the “Modern Rebellion” in an Export Economy: The Case of the Peruvian Mining in the Twentieth Century

Like other Andean countries, Peru has traditionally been considered as a mining economy since most of its exports consisted of mining products. Mining has also been a key determinant of economic growth and recession cycles and a source of government revenue, both for the central- and other government levels. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the mining sector has been controlled by large foreign firms. By introducing modern technology, they boosted the growth of the sector, but also extracted profits and weakened the sector’s connections with the rest of the economy. In the third quarter of the century, these developments provoked a nationalist reaction, marked by the expropriation of most foreign firms, placing most of the mining sector under government control. We show in this chapter that the nationalisation of the mining sector did not resolve dissatisfaction of the Peruvian population with the sector, though it delivered some noteworthy achievements. Finally, we evaluate how economic concentration in mining affected the country.