Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T14:43:57.762Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Italian Corporate Network After the “Golden Age” (1972–1983): From Centrality to Marginalization of State-Owned Enterprises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2015

Alberto Rinaldi  and
Michelangelo Vasta
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article analyzes the structure of the Italian corporate network in the decade that followed the end of the “Golden Age” (1972–83), when the transition from the technological trajectory of the second to that of the third industrial revolution began. The article is based on a large dataset, Imita.db, which contains data on more than thirty-eight thousand Italian joint-stock companies and about three hundred thousand directors, and uses both network analysis and a prosopographic approach. The main result is that the interval considered was marked by a sharp decrease in the degree of cohesion of the Italian corporate network. In 1972, the system was very cohesive and state-owned enterprises were well represented within the most central firms. In 1983, the cohesion of the system had sharply diminished; state-owned enterprises had disappeared from the center and a new private center, hinged on Mediobanca, the only merchant bank operating in the country, had emerged.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 378 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2012. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliography of Works Cited

Books

Amatori, Franco, and Colli, Andrea. Impresa e industria in Italia dall’Unità ad oggi. Venice, Italy: Marsilio, 1999.Google Scholar
Balconi, Margherita. La siderurgia italiana (1945–1990). Tra controllo pubblico e incentivi del mercato. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1991.Google Scholar
Barca, Fabrizio. Imprese in cerca di padrone. Proprietà e controllo nel capitalismo italiano. Rome-Bari, Italy: Laterza, 1994.Google Scholar
Barca, Fabrizio., ed. Storia del capitalismo italiano dal dopoguerra a oggi. Rome, Italy: Donzelli, 1997.Google Scholar
Barca, Fabrizio, Bianco, Magda, Cannari, Luigi, Cesari, Riccardo, Gola, Carlo, Manitta, Giuseppe, Salvo, Giorgio, and Signorini, Luigi Federico. Assetti proprietari e mercato delle imprese. Vol. I. Proprietà, modelli di controllo e riallocazione nelle imprese industriali. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1994.Google Scholar
Berta, Giuseppe. Conflitto industriale e struttura d’impresa alla Fiat. 1919–1979. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1998.Google Scholar
Bianchi, Patrizio. La rincorsa frenata. L’industria italiana dall’unità nazionale all’unificazione europea. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 2002.Google Scholar
Castronovo, Valerio. Storia economica d’Italia. Dall’Ottocento ai giorni nostri. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1995.Google Scholar
Castronovo, Valerio. Fiat. 1899–1999. Un secolo di storia italiana. Milan, Italy: Rizzoli, 1999.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jon, and Federico, Giovanni. The Growth of the Italian Economy 1820–1960. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colajanni, Napoleone. Un uomo una banca. 1946–1991: storia di Enrcio Cuccia e della prima Mediobanca. Milan, Italy: Sperling & Kupfer, 2000.Google Scholar
Colli, Andrea, and Vasta, Michelangelo, ed. Forms of Enterprise in 20th Century Italy. Boundaries, Structures and Strategies. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, Colin. Capitalist Diversity and Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Cecco, Marcello, and Ferri, Giovanni. Le banche d’affari in Italia. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1996.Google Scholar
De Nooy, Wouter, Mrvar, Andrej, and Batagelj, Vladimir. Explanatory Social Network Analysis with Pajek. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Freeman, Chris, and Louçâ, Francisco. As time goes by: from the industrial revolution to the information revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Gerschenkron, Alexander. Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Essays. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1962.Google Scholar
Giannetti, Renato, and Vasta, Michelangelo, ed. Evolution of Italian Enterprises in the 20th Century. Heidelberg, Germany: Physica Verlag, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grifone, Pietro. Il capitale finanziario in Italia. La politica economica del fascismo. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1945.Google Scholar
Jones, Bryn. Forcing the Factory of the Future. Cybernation and Societal Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kotz, David M. Bank Contro of Large Corporations in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Mintz, Beth, and Schwarz, Michael. The Power Structure of American Business. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.Google Scholar
Mizruchi, Mark S. The American Corporate Network, 1904–1974. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1982.Google Scholar
Mori, Giorgio. Il capitalismo industriale in Italia. Processo d’industrializzazione e storia d’Italia. Rome, Italy: Editori Riuniti, 1977.Google Scholar
Osti, Gian Lupo. L’industria di Stato dall’ascesa al degrado. Trent’anni nel gruppo Finsider. Conversazioni con Ruggero Ranieri. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1993.Google Scholar
Pennings, Johannes M. Interlocking Directorates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1980.Google Scholar
Piluso, Giandomenico. Mediobanca: tra regole e mercato. Milan, Italy: Egea, 2005.Google Scholar
Piore, Michael J, and Sabel, Charles F.. The Second Industrial Divide. Possibilities for Prosperity. New York: Basic Books, 1984.Google Scholar
Posner, Michael V., and Woolf, Stuart J.. Italian Public Enterprise. London: Duckworth, 1967.Google Scholar
Radar (pseud. of E. Rienzi). Organizzazione del capitale finanziario italiano. Rome, Italy: Edizioni Italiane, 1948.Google Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A. The Futures of European Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, John. Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. London: Sage, 1999.Google Scholar
Sereni, Emilio. Capitalismo e mercato nazionale. Rome, Italy: Editori Riuniti, 1966.Google Scholar
Siciliano, Giovanni. Cento anni di borsa in Italia. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 2001.Google Scholar
Toniolo, Gianni. L’economia dell’Italia fascista. Bari, Italy: Laterza, 1980.Google Scholar
Wasserman, Stanley, and Faust, Katherine, ed. Social Network Analysis. Methods and Applications. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zamagni, Vera. The Economic History of Italy 1860–1990. Recovery after Decline. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.Google Scholar

Articles and Essays

Aganin, Alexander, and Volpin, Paolo. “History of Corporate Ownership in Italy.” In A History of corporate governance around the world: family business groups to professional managers, edited by Morck, Randall K., 325–61. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Amatori, Franco. “La grande impresa.” In Annali della storia d’Italia. L’industria, edited by Amatori, Franco, Bigazzi, Duccio, Giannetti, Renato, and Segreto, Luciano, 689–753. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 689–753.Google Scholar
Amatori, Franco. “Beyond State and Market: Italy’s Futile Search for a Third Way.” In The Rise and Fall of State-Owned Enterprises in the Western World, edited by Toninelli, Pier Angelo, 128–56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amatori, Franco, and Brioschi, Francesco. “Le grandi imprese private: famiglie e coalizioni.” In Storia del capitalismo italiano dal dopoguerra a oggi, edited by Barca, Fabrizio, 118–53. Rome, Italy: Donzelli, 1997.Google Scholar
Balconi, Margherita, Orsenigo, Luigi, and Toninelli, Pier Angelo. “Tra gerarchie politiche e mercati: il caso delle imprese pubbliche in Italia (acciaio e petrolio).” In Potere, mercati, gerarchie. Storici, economisti e sociologi a confronto, edited by Magatti, Mauro, 299–338. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Barca, Fabrizio, and Trento, Sandro. “La parabola delle partecipazioni statali: una missione tradita.” In Storia del capitalismo italiano dal dopoguerra o oggi, edited by Barca, Fabrizio, 185–236. Rome, Italy: Donzelli, 1997.Google Scholar
Barca, Fabrizio, and Trento, Sandro. “State Ownership and the Evolution of Italian Corporate Governance.” Industrial and Corporate Change 6, no. 3 (1997): 533–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battilossi, Stefano. “Accumulazione e finanza. Per una storia degli investitori istituzionali in Italia (1945–1990).” Annali di storia dell’impresa 8 (1992): 183–259.Google Scholar
Bonelli, Franco. “Il capitalismo italiano: linee generali di interpretazione.” In Annali della storia d’Italia. Dal feudalesimo al capitalismo, edited by Romano, Ruggiero, and Vivanti, Corrado, 1195–255. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1978.Google Scholar
Bresnahan, Timothy F., and Trajtenberg, Manuel. “General Purpose Technologies: Engines of Growth?” Journal of Econometrics 65, no. 1 (1995): 83–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruno, Giovanni, and Segreto, Luciano. “Finanza e industria in Italia (196–1995).” In Storia dell’Italia repubblicana, vol. 3: L’Italia nella crisi mondiale. L’ultimo ventennio, t. 1: Economia e società, edited by Barbagallo, Francesco, 497–694. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1996.Google Scholar
Cafagna, Luciano. “Contro tre pregiudizi sulla storia dello sviluppo economico italiano.” In Storia economica d Italia, vol. 1: Interpretazioni, edited by Ciocca, Pierluigi, and Toniolo, Gianni, 297–325. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1999.Google Scholar
Carnevali, Francesca. “State Enterprise and Italy’s “Economic Miracle”: The Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, 1945–1962.” Enterprise & Society 1, no. 2 (2000): 249–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, William K., and Fennema, Meindert. “Is There a Transnational Business Community?” International Sociology 17, no. 3 (2002): 393–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, Thomas, Schnyder, Gerhard, and Westerhuis, Gerarda. “Corporate Networks in Small Open Economies: The case of Switzerland and the Netherlands (1910–2010).” Paper presented at the 15th Annual Conference of the European Business History Association “Business, Finance and the State in 20th Century: European Comparisons in Historical Perspective. Crises and Transformation,” (Athens, August 24–26, 2011): 1–36.Google Scholar
Davis, Gerald F., and Mizruchi, Mark S.. “The Money Center Cannot Hold: Commercial Banks in the U.S. System of Corporate Governance.” Administrative Science Quarterly 44, no. 2 (1999): 215–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dosi, Giovanni. “Technological Paradigms and Technological Trajectories: A Suggested Interpretation of the Determinants of Technological Change.” Research Policy 11 (1982): 147–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dosi, Giovanni, and Nelson, Richard. “Technical Change and Industrial Dynamics as Evolutionary Processes.” In Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, vol. 1, edited by Hall, Bronwyn H. and Rosenberg, Nathan, 51–127. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federico, Giovanni. “Harmful or Irrelevant? Italian Industrial Policy 1945–1973.” In Policies for Competitiveness. Comparing Business-Government Relationships in the ‘Golden Age of Capitalism’, edited by Miyajima, Hidetaki, Kikkawa, Takeo, and Hikino, Takashi, 309–35. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Felice, Emanuele. “State Ownership and International Competitiveness: The Italian Finmeccacnica from Alfa Romeo to Aerospace and Defence (1947–2007).” Enterprise & Society 11, no. 3 (2010): 594–635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferratini Tosi, Francesca., et al. “Il ceto imprenditoriale nel primo decennio repubblicano. Anticipazioni su un campione di ricerca.” Italia contemporanea 153 (1983): 165–81.Google Scholar
Ferri, Giovanni, and Trento, Sandro. “La dirigenza delle grandi banche e delle grandi imprese: ricambio e legami.” In Storia del capitalismo italiano dal dopoguerra a oggi, edited by Barca, Fabrizio, 405–27. Rome, Italy: Donzelli, 1997.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. “The Nature of Economic Relationship.” In Explorations in Economic Sociology, edited by Swedberg, Richard, 3–41. New York: Sage, 1993.Google Scholar
Grossman, Sanford J., and Hart, Oliver. “The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration.” Journal of Political Economy 94, no. 4 (1986): 691–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, Peter A., and Soskice, David. “An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism.” In Varieties of Capitalism. The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage, edited by Hall, Peter A., and Soskice, David, 1–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, Oliver. “An Economist’s Perspective on the Theory of the Firm.” Columbia Law Review 89, no. 7 (1989): 1757–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, Oliver, and Moore, John. “Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm.” Journal of Political Economy 98, no. 6 (1990): 1119–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Höpner, Martin, and Krempel, Lothar. “The Politics of the German Company Network.” Competition and Change 8, no. 4 (2002): 339–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mattioli, Raffaele. “I problemi attuali del credito.” Mondo economico, no. 17 (1962): 1–5.Google Scholar
Mori, Giorgio. “Le guerre parallele. L’industria elettrica in Italia nel periodo della grande guerra.” In Il capitalismo industriale in Italia. Processo di industrializzazione e storia d’Italia, edited by Mori, Gorgio, 141–215. Rome, Italy: Editori Riuniti, 1977.Google Scholar
Nelson, Richard R. “The Co-evolution of Technology, Industrial Structure, and Supporting Institutions.” Industrial and Corporate Change 3, no. 1 (1994): 47–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pagano, Ugo, and Trento, Sandro. “Continuity and Change in Italian Corporate Governance. The Institutional Stability of One Variety of Capitalism.” In The Italian Economy at the Dawn of the XXI Century, edited by Di Matteo, Massimo, and Piacentini, Paolo, 177–211. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2003.Google Scholar
La Porta, Rafael, Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio, Shleifer, Andrei, and Vishny, Robert W.. “Corporate Ownership around the World.” Journal of Finance 54 (1999): 471–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rinaldi, Alberto, and Vasta, Michelangelo. “The Structure of Italian Capitalism, 1952–72: New Evidence Using the Interlocking Directorates Technique.” Financial History Review 12 (2005): 173–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sahal, Devendra. “Technological guideposts and innovation avenues.” Research Policy 14 (1985): 61–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saviotti, Pier Paolo. “On the Co-evolution of Technologies and Institutions.” In Towards Environmental Innovations Systems, edited by Weber, Karl M., and Hemmelskamp, Jens, 9–32. Berlin: Springer, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, Vivien A. “European Political Economy: Labor Out, State Back In, Firm to the Fore.” West European Politics 31, no. 1–2 (2008): 302–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schnyder, Gerhard, Lüpold, Martin, Mach, André, and David, Thomas. “The Rise and Decline of the Swiss Company Network during the 20th Century.” Université de Lausanne, Institut d’études politiques et internationals, Travaux de Science Politique, Nouvelle Série, no. 22 (2005): 1–70.Google Scholar
Scott, John. “Theoretical Framework and Research Design.” In Networks of Corporate Power, edited by Stokman, Frans N., Ziegler, Rolf, and Scott, John, 1–19. Cambridge: Polity, 1985.Google Scholar
Stokman, Frans N., and Wasseur, Frans N.. “National Networks in 1976: A Structural Comparison.” In Networks of Corporate Power, edited by Stokman, Frans N., Ziegler, Rolf, and Scott, John, 20–44. Cambridge: Polity, 1985.Google Scholar
Teti, Raffaele. “Imprese, imprenditori e diritto.” In Annali della storia d’Italia. L’industria, edited by Amatori, Franco, Bigazzi, Duccio, Giannetti, Renato, and Segreto, Luciano, 1215–303. Turin, Italy: Einaudi, 1999.Google Scholar
Toninelli, Pier Angelo. “Between State and Market. The Parabola of Italian Public Enterprise in the 20th Century.” Entreprises et histoire, no. 37 (2004): 53–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toninelli, Pier Angelo, and Vasta, Michelangelo. “State-owned enterprises (1936–1983).” In Forms of Enterprises in 20th Century Italy. Boundaries, Structures and Policies, edited by Colli, Andrea, and Vasta, Michelangelo, 52–86. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2010.Google Scholar
Vasta, Michelangelo. “Appendix: the Source and the Imita.db Dataset.” In Evolution of Italian Enterprises in the 20th Century, edited by Giannetti, Renato, and Vasta, Michelangelo, 269–73. Heidelberg, Germany: Physica, 2006.Google Scholar
Vasta, Michelangelo, and Baccini, Alberto. “Banks and Industry in Italy, 1911–36: New Evidence Using the Interlocking Directorates Technique.” Financial History Review 4 (1997): 139–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Tunzelmann, Nick. “Historical Coevolution of Governance and Technology In the Industrial Revolutions.” Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 14 (2003): 365–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zamagni, Vera. “Alcune tesi sull’intervento dello Stato in una prospettiva di lungo periodo.” In Il progresso economico dell’Italia. Permanenze, discontinuità, limiti, edited by Ciocca, Pierluigi, 151–60. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1994.Google Scholar

Reports

Cerise. Rapporto finale dello Studio di fattibilità per: Dimensione e performance dell’impresa pubblica italiana (1993–1991). Siena, Italy, 2006.Google Scholar

Online sources

Imita.http://imitadb.unisi.it Google Scholar
Rinaldi, Alberto, and Vasta, Michelangelo. “The Italian Corporate Network, 1952–1983: New Evidence Using the Interlocking Directorates Technique.” RECent Working Paper 24. Modena, Italy (2008) http://www.recent.unimore.it/wp/recent-wp24.pdf Google Scholar