San Luis Province
Tax-incentive industrialization since 1980s drew Buenos Aires manufacturers. Motorsport tourism (Potrero de los Funes). By 2026: testing if incentive-driven industry survives policy changes.
San Luis Province represents Argentina's most deliberate experiment in industrial policy—tax incentives beginning in the 1980s attracted manufacturing plants fleeing Buenos Aires costs, creating an artificial industrial base in the central Cuyo region. The strategy generated employment and urbanization but created dependency on incentives that national governments periodically threaten to reduce.
The geographic position between Buenos Aires and Mendoza places San Luis on major transport corridors without generating the agricultural wealth of Pampas or the wine economy of Cuyo neighbors. Semi-arid conditions limit cultivation; cattle ranching provides traditional agricultural base.
Manufacturing concentrates in industrial parks near the capital, where electronics, automotive parts, and consumer goods production benefited from tax advantages. Whether these operations survive incentive reduction remains uncertain—location decisions driven by policy rather than comparative advantage may reverse when policy changes.
Tourism development around Sierra de las Quijadas National Park and Potrero de los Funes racing circuit attempts diversification beyond industrial policy dependence. The province promotes adventure tourism and motorsport events as attractions independent of manufacturing.
By 2026, San Luis tests whether incentive-driven industrialization created permanent economic base, or whether companies depart when tax advantages disappear—revealing artificial economy dependent on regulatory arbitrage.