But it undermined the popularity both of the Concertacion government of President Eduardo Frei, a plodding and uninspired Christian Democrat, and of Mr Lagos, who ran a worthy but old-fashioned campaign, promising voters a fairer society, built gradually through positive discrimination for the disadvantaged, better state education and improved health services.
The pattern of dismally low ownership of businesses among the most disadvantaged groups, the researchers found, is not specific to any one region or state in India.