Centralization of capital and financial crisis: A global network analysis of corporate control

Emiliano Brancaccio, Raffaele Giammetti (), Milena Lopreite and Michelangelo Puliga

Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 2018, vol. 45, issue C, 94-104

Abstract: Neither the existence of a global tendency toward the centralization of capital as theorized by Marx nor the possible links between economic crisis and capital centralization have been verified by empirical studies. Using techniques of complex network analysis applied to the Thomson Reuters Eikon database we introduce a definition of centralization as network control and present a first study of its global evolution from 2001 to 2016. We find that the global network control is highly centralized: the fraction of the top holders cumulatively holding the 80% of the global economic value of the companies examined does never exceed 2%. Furthermore, by inspecting the temporal dynamics of the phenomenon we observe a relevant increase in the centralization of capital: this trend assumes a more regular and general character since the financial crisis started in 2007, with a growth of more than 20%.

Keywords: Network analysis; Capital centralization; Concentration; Financial crisis; Top holders holding; Ownership and control structures; Marx; Laws of tendency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B5 D85 F23 G34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:streco:v:45:y:2018:i:c:p:94-104

DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2018.03.001

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