European Economic Elites

doi:10.3790/978-3-428-53181-3

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Sattler, F., Boyer, C. (Eds.) (2009). European Economic Elites. Between a New Spirit of Capitalism and the Erosion of State Socialism. Duncker & Humblot. https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-53181-3

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European Economic Elites

Between a New Spirit of Capitalism and the Erosion of State Socialism

Editors: Sattler, Friederike | Boyer, Christoph

Schriften zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Vol. 84

(2009)

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Publisher Name: Duncker & Humblot
ISBN: 978-3-428-53181-3
978-3-428-13181-5 (print edition)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-53181-3
Edition: 1
Language: English
Pages: 595
Collections: NBE HIST
NBE WISO
NBE D&H
Subjects: Economic history
Social & cultural history

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Institution: € 166.00 (incl. local VAT if applicable)
Individual: € 109.90 (incl. local VAT if applicable)

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 1970s, democratic capitalist Western Europe as well as state-socialist Eastern Europe faced the double challenge of the third industrial revolution and the second globalization. The accelerated political, social, economic and cultural change did not lead to a crisis "of capitalism" or "of communism", instead challenging European industrial society as such. In 1989, after a long erosion process, state socialism failed at the task of solving the manifold problems of adjustment; yet a lasting solution is also not conceivable within the context of a neo-liberal "new spirit of capitalism".

The present volume, which arose from the interdisciplinary cooperation of historians and social scientists, discusses the consequences of this "great transformation" for the economic elites in both "West" and "East": for their qualification profiles and their social composition, their options and their room for maneuver, their value systems and legitimization strategies, their self-perception and their public image. Economic elites in both systems saw themselves forced to adopt new strategies which very often seem quite different at the surface; looking deeper, they exhibit clear similarities. After 1989, the consolidation of the post-socialist economic elites has, all in all, been completed according to the Western example. The emerging convergences, which are being supported by the process of European integration, contributed to the internationalization of the European economic elites. The volume discusses the problem how strong this tendency was and if it has already created truly transnational economic elites more or less separated from the national context.

The contributions, which are embedded into a coherent interpretative framework, are penned by internationally renowned experts and junior researchers from a wide array of countries, from Britain to Poland and from Norway to Portugal. The innovative value of the volume lies in its Europe-wide scope and, above all, in its comparative East-West perspective. A genuinely European community of researchers tackles a topic which is indisputably current for history as well as for the social sciences.

Section Title	Page	Action	Price
Acknowledgements	5
Contents	7
Abbreviations	10
In Lieu of an Introduction: Big Structures, Large Processes and Huge Comparisons – A Frame of Interpretation	17
Friederike Sattler / Christoph Boyer: European Economic Elites between a New Spirit of Capitalism and the Erosion of State Socialism	19
I. European economic elites under current public criticism	19
II. The socio-economic transformations of late 20th century Europe	22
1. The two macro-models of post-1945 European history	24
2. The emerging crisis of the macro-models during the 1970s	26
a) The “West”	26
b) The “East”	28
c) Comparative perspective	32
III. Economic elites and socio-economic transformation in the late 20th century	33
1. Elite concepts	33
2. European economic elites: some “long lines” of development	37
3. Economic elites in the context of the two early post-war macro-models	42
a) The Western macro-model	42
b) The Eastern macro-model	44
c) The comparative perspective	45
4. Economic elites between a new spirit of capitalism and the erosion of state socialism	46
a) Economic elites and the crisis of the Western macro-model	46
b) Economic elites and the crisis of the Eastern macro-model	54
c) The comparative perspective	64
5. Transnational business elites?	67
Economic Elites in the Twentieth Century: Overviews from Western and Eastern Perspectives	71
Dieter Ziegler: Business Elites in the Twentieth Century – Germany and its Western Neighbours	73
I. The overall picture: high rates of self-recruitment in the European business elite	73
II. The main causes of self-recruitment within different Western European countries	74
1. Britain	74
2. France	75
3. Spain	76
III. The German business elite in the 20th century	77
1. High stability, but long-term changes in social composition	77
2. Changing educational profile	80
3. Patterns of socialization within the bourgeoisie and the educated classes	81
IV. Conclusion: New tendencies during the second half of the 20th century?	83
Ágnes Pogány: Hungarian Economic Elites in the Twentieth Century	85
I. Introduction	85
II. The Hungarian business elite between the two world wars	86
1. Composition and recruitment	88
2. Education and competence	90
3. Puritanism and luxury consumption	90
4. Business elite and economic anti-Semitism	91
III. The Hungarian economic elite after the Second World War	93
1. The worker-director	94
a) Recruitment composition and education	94
2. Cadre-managers	96
a) Recruitment	96
b) Education	97
3. Red barons	97
4. The “New Entrepreneurs”	98
IV. Conclusion	100
Formations and Profiles in Western Europe: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation	103
Hervé Joly: Die bemerkenswerte Persistenz der staatlichen grands corps bei der Rekrutierung der Wirtschaftseliten in Frankreich	105
I. Die Tradition der grands corps	105
II. Die allgemeine Entwicklung der pantouflage im 20. Jahrhundert	107
1. Die Positionen vor den Verstaatlichungen	107
2. Die Diversifizierung der grands corps außerhalb der traditionellen Branchen	112
3. Die Vorteile der Verstaatlichungen für die grands corps	113
4. Privatisierungen ohne größere Auswirkungen für die grands corps	116
III. Die privilegierte Position der grands corps: Erklärungen und Folgen	121
Fabio Lavista: Business Elites in Italy and the Failure of the National Planning Policies as a Vision of Development	129
I. Introduction	129
II. Post-war economic plans	131
III. The managerial roots of national economic planning	136
IV. National economic planning	144
V. Economic crisis, planning crisis and the fragmentation of the business elites	149
VI. Conclusion	152
Manuel Loff: Elites and Economic Modernization in Portugal (1945–1995): Authoritarianism, Revolution and Liberalism	153
I. Salazarist authoritarian regime	154
II. A traditionally elitist society	156
III. A time for change: economic development and social tension in the 1960s and 1970s	164
IV. Elites and Revolution	174
V. Post-Revolution (new?) elites	186
Thomas David et al.: The Swiss Business Elite between 1980–2000: Declining Cohesion, Changing Educational Profile and Growing Internationalization	197
I. Introduction	197
II. The disintegration of the Swiss company network (1980–2000)	199
1. 1910–1980: The heyday of the “Fortress of the Alps”	199
2. 1980–2000: The decline of the network	201
a) Actor centrality	202
III. 1980–: The decline of organized capitalism	204
1. Changing strategies of Swiss banks: investment banking and decreasing involvement in industrial companies	205
2. Consequences of the strategic reorientation of Swiss banks and companies for the domestic company network	207
IV. The changes within the business elite in Switzerland: 1980–2000	207
1. The changes in the educational background	208
2. The internationalization of the business elite in Switzerland	215
V. Conclusion	219
Formations and Profiles in Eastern Europe: Between Erosion and Transformation	221
Zsuzsanna Varga: The Agrarian Elite in Hungary before and after the Political Transition	223
I. Introduction	223
II. Historical background since the inter-war period	224
III. Collectivization Hungarian style: new mediators and informal bargaining in the early Kádár-era	227
IV. Political power and the agrarian elite in the 1970/1980s	233
1. Conflict between the heavy industrial lobby and the agrarian lobby	233
2. Changes in the socialist agrarian elite	237
V. The agrarian elite after the political transition	239
1. Compensation, privatization	239
2. “Green Barons” and family farms in agricultural production	244
VI. Conclusion	248
György Lengyel: Social Factors Conditioning the Recruitment of the Hungarian Economic Elite at the End of the 1990s	251
I. Introduction	251
II. The Hungarian economic elite at the end of the 1990s – in comparison with the general population	253
1. Schooling and social background	253
2. Gender and social background	256
3. Competence and loyalty	258
4. Career patterns	261
5. Combined effects	262
III. Conclusion	264
Marcel Boldorf: Elitentausch? Die betrieblichen Führungskräfte in Ostdeutschland seit den 1980er Jahren	265
I. Einführung	265
II. Konkurrierende Problemfaktoren	267
III. Gewicht und Rolle der DDR-Führungskräfte im vereinigten Deutschland	270
IV. Prägende Sozialisationsmerkmale der ostdeutschen Manager	273
V. Längerfristige Ursachen für die betrieblichen Defizite	277
VI. Schlussbemerkung	280
Libuše Macáková / Eduard Kubu: Transformation of Economic Elites after the Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia	281
I. Introduction	281
II. Czech economic elites in state socialism	282
1. Economic elites after the establishment of the Communist dictatorship in 1948	283
2. Economic elites before the “velvet revolution” – the 1970s and 1980s	284
III. The disintegration of the pre-November economic elites in Czechoslovakia and the formation and development of elites during the social transformations	286
1. The formation of economic elites in the first half of 1990s	286
2. The formation of economic elites in the second half of the 1990s	291
3. The fragmented, yet consensually united economic elite after 1989	296
IV. Conclusion	296
Challenges and Responses: Strategies during the Third Industrial Revolution	299
Manuel Schramm: Wirtschaftseliten und Wissenstransfer in der DDR und Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949–1990: Beispiele aus den „wissensbasierten Industrien“	301
I. Einleitung	301
II. Die Einstellung der Wirtschaftseliten zu Hochschulen und Wissenschaft in den 1950er/60er Jahren	302
1. DDR	302
2. BRD	305
3. Vergleichsaspekte	309
III. Neue Technologien (1970er/80er Jahre)	309
1. CNC-Steuerungen	309
a) DDR	310
b) BRD	312
2. Biotechnologie	314
a) DDR	314
b) BRD	318
3. Vergleichsaspekte	319
IV. Ergebnisse	320
Kim Christian Priemel: Dispiriting Decade. Structural Crisis, Managerial Failure, and the Fall of the House of Flick, 1975–1985	323
I. Crisis? Whose crisis?	323
II. What’s happened so far, 1952–74	325
III. From bad to worse: Daimler and the aftermath, 1975–78	332
IV. Disillusion and dissolution, 1978–85	336
V. Conclusive remarks: slow learners and path dependencies	343
Christian Dirninger: Der politische Unternehmer – Ein österreichisches Beispiel	347
I. Der politische Unternehmer im Transformationsszenario	347
II. Der Beispielfall	349
III. Vom Beispielfall zum Modell	353
IV. Exemplarisches Entwicklungsmuster	356
1. Formierung (bis Ende der 1960er Jahre)	356
2. Der Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitiker (1970–1981)	357
3. Der politische Banker (1981–1988)	363
4. Der strategische Berater (1988–1994/95)	365
5. Der politische Investor (ab 1994)	368
V. Zusammenfassung des analytischen Ansatzes	371
Trygve Gulbrandsen: Private Business Lobbying in a Corporatist Society – The Case of Norway	375
I. Introduction	375
1. Background and research questions	375
2. Theory and hypotheses	378
a) “Inner circle” and lobbying	378
b) Owners versus managers	380
c) The significance of previous experiences in the political system	381
II. Contexts	382
1. The economy: Norwegian capitalism	382
2. Politics: The state and Norwegian corporatism	385
III. Lobbying in Norway	388
1. Lobbying during the latest decades	388
2. The Norwegian Leadership Study	391
a) Data and methods	391
b) Findings	392
c) Discussion	399
IV. Conclusions	402
Change of Values, Interpretations and Legitimations	405
Peter Hübner: „Sozialistische Manager“ und betriebliche Sozialpolitik in der DDR und Polen. Anmerkungen zu einem Vergleich	407
I. Einleitung	407
II. Zum Verhältnis von staatlicher und betrieblicher Sozialpolitik	410
III. Soziale Erwartungen und Forderungen	413
IV. Konflikte und Konfliktverhalten	417
V. Soziale Wertorientierungen des Managements	422
VI. Fazit	424
Krzysztof Go ata: The Problems of a Business Elites’ Image and Reputation. The Example of Poland	427
I. Introduction	427
II. The evolution of the concept ‘entrepreneur’	428
III. The entrepreneur, a stock character in business scandals	433
IV. Economic growth and the entrepreneur’s image	435
V. The ten most hated (Newsweek Poland 2004)	437
VI. ‘Wild capitalism’ or ‘political capitalism’?	439
VII. “Business in search of a persona”	444
VIII. Synopsis	446
Asta Vonderau: Enterprising self. Neue soziale Differenzierung und kulturelle Selbstdeutungen der Wirtschaftselite in Litauen	449
I. Einführung	449
II. Transformationen des Selbst	450
1. Der sozialistische Mensch	451
2. „Der neue Mensch“ nach dem Sozialismus	453
III. Neue soziale Differenzierung	455
1. Die Verlierer	456
2. Die Wirtschaftseliten als Gewinner	458
IV. Erfolgsbiographien	460
1. Konstruktionen biographischer Kontinuitäten zwischen Ost und West	462
2. Die symbolische Verortung im nationalen und europäischen Kontext	465
3. Zum kapitalistischen Erfolg durch (post-)sozialistische Erfahrungen	468
V. Schlussfolgerungen	469
On the Way towards a Transnational Business Elite?	471
Matthieu Leimgruber: Bringing Private Insurance Back In. The Geneva Association as a Transnational Insurance Think Tank (1973–2000s)	473
I. Introduction	473
II. Transnational business networks and think-tanks during the 1970s	474
III. At the origins of an International of insurers	477
IV. The “most prestigious assembly of world insurance”	479
V. Social policy from an insurer’s perspective	484
1. The “three-pillar doctrine” as a model for pension reform (1975–1985): save now ...	484
2. ... or work tomorrow: adding a fourth pillar to the retirement temple (mid 1980s–2000s)	488
VI. Conclusive remarks	490
Appendix: Tables and figures	492
Leslie Sklair: The Transnational Capitalist Class – Theory and Empirical Research	497
I. Introduction	497
II. Conceptualizing the transnational capitalist class	499
III. The four fractions of the TCC	503
1. TNC executives	503
2. Globalizing politicians and bureaucrats	504
3. Globalizing professionals	508
4. Consumerist elites (merchants and media)	509
IV. Case Studies	516
1. Tobacco industry	516
2. Ecological crisis	518
3. Contemporary architecture	520
V. Conclusion	521
Appendix	523
Bibliography	525
List of Authors	581
Index of Persons	585
Index of Companies	590

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European Economic Elites

Between a New Spirit of Capitalism and the Erosion of State Socialism

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