Abstract

The industrial electrification of the mid-20th century was crucial for Chilean industrialization. Developing a competitive industry required modernization through the adoption of the electric engine to production thereby increasing the consumption of electricity. During this process, however, the electric companies went through the worst crisis in their history, causing extensive periods of restrictions, concentrated in the provinces that led industrialization: Santiago and Valparaiso. Notwithstanding this, substantial public sector investments increased the supply of electricity in southern provinces, allowing a sustained increase in industrial electricity consumption. Comparing the industrial performance in two southern provinces (Concepcion and Nuble) and two central provinces (Santiago and Valparaiso), it is argued that the availability of electricity, generated by the public sector, was decisive in the modernization of the southern industry, allowing it to reach higher levels of labor productivity than the one in the center of the country. (c) 2022 Asociacion Espanola de Historia Economica