Beaten paths towards the transnational corporate elite

Abstract

The transnationalization of economic activities has fundamentally altered the world. One of the consequences that has intrigued scholars is the formation of a transnational corporate elite. While the literature tends to focus on the topology of the transnational board interlock network, little is known about its driving mechanisms. This article asks the question: what are the trajectories that corporate elites follow in driving the expansion of this network? To answer this, the authors employ a novel approach that models the transnationalization of elites using their board appointment sequences. The findings show that there are six transnationalization trajectories corporate elites follow to expand the network. The authors argue that while the transnational elite network appears as a global social structure, its generating mechanisms are regionally organized. This corroborates earlier findings on the fragmentation of the global network of corporate control, but also provides insights into how this network was shaped over time.

How career hubs shape the global corporate elite

“…The firms of these countries are among the most central in the career network and closely linked together, while, for example, Japanese, Chinese or Russian firms are less central and scattered around in an unlinked manner. Thus, the career hubs emphasize the status disparities still dominating global capitalism (Valeeva et al., 2022). Second, we have identified three types of career hubs: global accounting and consulting firms, global financial institutions and large American conglomerates for consumer goods.…”

“…Therefore, future research on career networks should investigate some of the important research questions of the corporate networks literature, such as to study the career hubs of particularly powerful groups (Useem, 1984; Valeeva et al., 2022), the logic of network clustering based of firm characteristics such as type of industry or ownership, or the characteristics of the most central firms in terms of size, performance or sector (Davis & Mizruchi, 1999). In addition, future research could work more precisely on (both historical and biographical) timing of those careers and the different hierarchical positions through which they pass.…”

“…In this perspective, peripheral elites sometimes build regional networks which can be linked to the heartland in different forms and to different degrees (Heemskerk & Takes, 2016; Valeeva et al., 2022). In the most accomplished analysis of this type, Heemskerk and Takes (2016) identify a series of regional networks.…”

“…Over the last few years, an intermediate position has gradually gained acceptance: there is a transnational business elite; however, it is strongly dominated by its ‘North Atlantic heartland’. (Burris & Staples, 2012; Heemskerk & Takes, 2016; Valeeva et al., 2022; Young et al, 2021).…”