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Showing papers on "Capitalism published in 1999"


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Natural capital refers to the earth's natural resources and the ecological systems that provide vital life-support services to society and all living things as mentioned in this paper. But current business practices typically fail to take into account the value of these assets, which is rising with their scarcity.
Abstract: Previous industrial revolutions made people 100 times more productive when low per-capita output was limiting progress in exploiting a seemingly boundless natural world. Today we face a different pattern of scarcity: abundant people and labor-saving machines, but diminishing natural capital. Natural capital refers to the earth’s natural resources and the ecological systems that provide vital life-support services to society and all living things. These services are of immense economic value; some are literally priceless, since they have no known substitutes. Yet current business practices typically fail to take into account the value of these assets—which is rising with their scarcity. As a result, natural capital is being degraded and liquidated by the very wasteful use of resources such as energy, materials, water, fiber, and topsoil. The next industrial revolution, like the previous ones, will be a response to changing patterns of scarcity. It will create upheaval, but more importantly, it will create opportunities. Natural capitalism is a new business model that enables companies to fully realize these opportunities. The journey to natural capitalism involves four major shifts in business practices, all vitally interlinked: • Radically increase the productivity of natural resources. Through fundamental changes in both production design and technology, farsighted companies are developing ways to make natural resources—energy, minerals, water, forests—stretch 5, 10, even 100 times further than they do today. The resulting savings in operational costs, capital investment, and time can help natural capitalists implement the other three principles. • Shift to biologically inspired production models and materials. Natural capitalism seeks not merely to reduce waste but to eliminate the very concept of waste. In closed-loop production systems, modeled on nature’s designs, every output either is returned harmlessly to the ecosystem as a nutrient, like compost, or becomes an input for another manufacturing process. Industrial processes that emulate the benign chemistry of nature reduce dependence on nonrenewable inputs, make possible often phenomenally more efficient production, and can result in elegantly simple products that rival anything man-made. • Move to a “service-and-flow” business model. The business model of traditional manufacturing rests on the sale of goods. In the new model, value is instead delivered as a continuous flow of services—such as providing illumination rather than selling light bulbs. This aligns the interests of providers and customers in ways that reward them for resource productivity. • Reinvest in natural capital. Capital begets more capital; a company that depletes its own capital is eroding the basis Synopsis

1,596 citations


Book
13 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In the early 1980s, many observers, argued that powerful organized economic interests and social democratic parties created successful mixed economies promoting economic growth, full employment, and a modicum of social equality as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the early 1980s, many observers, argued that powerful organized economic interests and social democratic parties created successful mixed economies promoting economic growth, full employment, and a modicum of social equality The present book assembles scholars with formidable expertise in the study of advanced capitalist politics and political economy to reexamine this account from the vantage point of the second half of the 1990s The authors find that the conventional wisdom no longer adequately reflects the political and economic realities Advanced democracies have responded in path-dependent fashion to such novel challenges as technological change, intensifying international competition, new social conflict, and the erosion of established patterns of political mobilization The book rejects, however, the currently widespread expectation that ‘internationalization’ makes all democracies converge on similar political and economic institutions and power relations Diversity among capitalist democracies persists, though in a different fashion than in the ‘Golden Age’ of rapid economic growth after World War II

879 citations



Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Schiller as discussed by the authors traces the metamorphoses through three critically important and interlinked realms, dealing with the overwhelmingly "neoliberal" or market-driven policies that influence and govern the telecommunications system and their empowerment of transnational corporations while exacerbating exisiting social inequalities.
Abstract: From the Publisher: Cyberspace not only exemplifies but spearheads the greater political economy of which it has become such a critical part. The networks that comprise cyberspace were originally created at the behest of government agencies, military contractors, and allied educational institutions. However, over the past generation or so, a growing number of these networks began to serve primarily corporate users. Under the sway of an expansionary market logic, the Internet began a political-economic transition toward what Dan Schiller calls "digital capitalism." Schiller traces these metamorphoses through three critically important and interlinked realms. Parts I and II deal with the overwhelmingly "neoliberal" or market-driven policies that influence and govern the telecommunications system and their empowerment of transnational corporations while at the same time exacerbating exisiting social inequalities. Part III shows how cyberspace offers uniquely supple instruments with which to cultivate and deepen consumerism on a transnational scale, especially among privileged groups. Finally, Part IV shows how digital capitalism has already overtaken education, placing it at the mercy of a proprietary market logic.

588 citations


Journal Article
TL;DR: Natural capitalism will sub-sume traditional industrialism, just as industrialism sub-sumed agrarianism, and the companies that are furthest down the road will have the competitive edge, the authors argue.
Abstract: No one would run a business without accounting for its capital outlays. Yet most companies overlook one major capital component--the value of the earth's ecosystem services. It is a staggering omission; recent calculations place the value of the earth's total ecosystem services--water storage, atmosphere regulation, climate control, and so on--at $33 trillion a year. Not accounting for those costs has led to waste on a grand scale. But now a few farsighted companies are finding powerful business opportunities in conserving resources on a similarly grand scale. They are embarking on a journey toward "natural capitalism," a journey that comprises four major shifts in business practices. The first stage involves dramatically increasing the productivity of natural resources, stretching them as much as 100 times further than they do today. In the second stage, companies adopt closed-loop production systems that yield no waste or toxicity. The third stage requires a fundamental change of business model--from one of selling products to one of delivering services. For example, a manufacturer would sell lighting services rather than lightbulbs, thus benefitting the seller and customer for developing extremely efficient, durable lightbulbs. The last stage involves reinvesting in natural capital to restore, sustain, and expand the planet's ecosystem. Because natural capitalism is both necessary and profitable, it will sub-sume traditional industrialism, the authors argue, just as industrialism sub-sumed agrarianism. And the companies that are furthest down the road will have the competitive edge.

473 citations


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, Dyer-Witheford assesses the relevance of Marxism in our time and demonstrates how the information age, far from transcending the historic conflict between capital and its laboring subjects, constitutes the latest battleground in their encounter.
Abstract: From the Publisher: In this highly readable and thought-provoking work, Nick Dyer-Witheford assesses the relevance of Marxism in our time and demonstrates how the information age, far from transcending the historic conflict between capital and its laboring subjects, constitutes the latest battleground in their encounter. Dyer-Witheford maps the dynamics of modern capitalism, showing how capital depends for its operations not just on exploitation in the immediate workplace but on the continuous integration of a whole series of social sites and activities, from public health and maternity to natural resource allocation and the geographical reorganization of labor power. He also shows how these sites and activities may become focal points of subversion and insurgency, as new means of communication vital for the smooth flow of capital also permit otherwise isolated and dispersed points of resistance to connect and combine with one another. Dyer-Witheford predicts the advent of a reinvented, "autonomist" Marxism that will rediscover the possibility of a collective, communist transformation of society. Refuting the utopian promises of the information revolution, he discloses the real potentialities for a new social order in the form of a twenty-first-century communism based on the common sharing of wealth.

463 citations


Book
30 Dec 1999
TL;DR: Knowledge Capitalism as discussed by the authors explores how the shift to a knowledge-based economy is redefining firms, empowering individuals, and reshaping the links between learning and work, using economic, management, and knowledgebased theories, supported by empirical data and illustrations from leading companies.
Abstract: From the Publisher: Knowledge Capitalism probes the surface of contemporary economic and social change, revealing how the shift to a knowledge-based economy is redefining firms, empowering individuals, and reshaping the links between learning and work.. "Using economic, management, and knowledge-based theories, supported by empirical data and illustrations from leading companies, Knowledge Capitalism describes the emergence of a new breed of capitalist: one dependent on knowledge rather than physical resources. The author argues that industrial-era models of firm-market boundaries, work arrangements, and ownership and control are inhibiting firms' and individuals' success in the emerging knowledge economy. New models are proposed based on knowledge-centred organizations, knowledge-led growth, and knowledge supply as distinct from labour supply or flexible employment. With this book he provides a practical tool-set for anybody wanting to interpret and manage change in a rapidly deconstructing economic environment whether you are in business, working, or simply wondering what the future may hold.

435 citations


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The New Orleans slave market as mentioned in this paper was the largest slave market in the United States, where 100,000 men, women, and children were packaged, priced and sold, and the author transformed the statistics of this chilling trade into human drama of traders, buyers, and slaves, negotiating sales that would alter the life of each.
Abstract: This work tells the story of slavery in antebellum America by moving away from the cotton plantations and into the slave market itself, the heart of the domestic slave trade. Taking the reader inside the New Orleans slave market, the largest in the nation, where 100,000 men, women, and children were packaged, priced and sold, the author transforms the statistics of this chilling trade into the human drama of traders, buyers, and slaves, negotiating sales that would alter the life of each. What emerges is not only the brutal economics of trading but the vast interdependencies among those involved. Using recently discovered material, Johnson reveals the tenuous shifts of power that occurred in the market's slave coffles and showrooms. Traders packaged their slaves by "feeding them up", dressing them well, and oiling their bodies. Johnson depicts the subtle interrelation of capitalism, paternalism, class consciousness, racism and resistance in the slave market.

401 citations


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the history and fundamentals of intellectual property as well as an introduction to the field and shed light on the economics and management of Intellectual Property in large corporations in Europe, Japan and the USA.
Abstract: This volume focuses on intellectual property and charts the global transition towards intellectual capitalism with technology-based corporations as prime movers. It offers a comprehensive overview of the history and fundamentals of intellectual property as well as an introduction to the field. The author seeks to shed light on the economics and management of intellectual property in large corporations in Europe, Japan and the USA. Special emphasis is given to strategies for the acquisition and commercialization of new technologies, patent strategies and strategies for secrecy and trademark, technology intelligence and corporate management of intellectual property. The book includes an in-depth study of leading large corporations in Japan - Canon, Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony. In conclusion, it explores the possible evolution of intellectual property management towards a distributed intellectual capital management in the context of a wider transition to intellectual capitalism, fuelled by new technologies in general and new infocom technologies in particular.

335 citations


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The authors The Making of Contemporary Europe Part I: The FATE OF INDUSTRIALISM: Industrializing, Industrializing or Post-Industrial SOCIETIES? Part II: CHANGES and DIVERSITY in the CHARACTER OF CAPITALISM 5. Capitalism and Inequality in Work 6. The Institutions of Modern Capitalism 7. The Family 8. The Paradox of Religion 10. Nations, Cultures and Ethnicities 11. Democracy and Mass Participation 12. The Organization of Social Interests 13. Mass Citizenship and Welfare States CONCLUSIONS 14. Is
Abstract: Introduction Prologue: The End of the European Millennium 1. The Making of Contemporary Europe PART I: THE FATE OF INDUSTRIALISM: INDUSTRIALIZING, INDUSTRIAL OR POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES? 2. Work, Households and Occupations 3. The Organization of Working Life: Between Stability and Flexibility 4. The Sectors of Employment PART II: CHANGES AND DIVERSITY IN THE CHARACTER OF CAPITALISM 5. Capitalism and Inequality in Work 6. The Institutions of Modern Capitalism PART III: SOCIOLOGICAL LIBERALISM AND THE INSTITUTIONS OF TRADITIONAL COMMUNITY 7. The Family 8. Families, Education, and Social Mobility 9. The Paradox of Religion 10. Nations, Cultures and Ethnicities PART IV: CITIZENSHIP 11. Democracy and Mass Participation 12. The Organization of Social Interests 13. Mass Citizenship and Welfare States CONCLUSIONS 14. Is There a Western European Society? 15. What Type of Society are We Now Inhabiting?

292 citations


Book
12 Jul 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, Li et al. investigated the role of rational government in China's economic transition and found that rational government practices in Chinese Firms are inefficient or mimicry.
Abstract: List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi 1. Firm Practices in China's Transforming Economy: Efficiency or Mimicry? 3 2. Path Dependence in China's Economic Transition 24 3. Formal Rational Bureaucracies in Chinese Firms: Causes and Implications 42 4. Changing Labor Relations in the Period of Market Reform 75 5. The Politics of Price Setting in China's Transition Economy 101 6. Economic Strategies in the Face of Market Reforms 121 7. Institutional Pressure, Rational Choice, and Contractual Relations: Chinese-Foreign Negotiations in the Economic Transition 150 8. The Declining Significance of Connections in China's Economic Transition 175 9. Conclusions and Implications 198 Appendixes 1. Methodology and Sampling 219 2. Interviews and Informants 228 3. Complete Interview Schedule 235 4. Sample Characteristics and Variables 240 Notes 249 References 281 Index 299

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the different meanings and perspectives of globalization, of the causes and consequences of globalization and of the underpinnings or constitutive elements of globalization are discussed.
Abstract: This article discusses globalization and its implications for public administration. Using a political economy approach, an analysis is made of the different meanings and perspectives of globalization, of the causes and consequences of globalization, and of the underpinnings or constitutive elements of globalization, a phenomenon that is all-embracing with transworld and for-reaching implications for society, governance, and public administration. Causes of globalization are discussed, such as the economic factors of surplus accumulation, corporate reorganization, shift of corporate power structure, global money and financialization, global state and administration, domestic decline, rising human expectations, innovations, and global supranational organizations such as the United Nations. Consequences of globalization are discussed, including the positive impact such as continuity and persistence of the state and public administration, but also its negative consequences such as threat to democracy and community, increasing corruption, and elite empowerment. Then a discussion is made of the converging, hegemonic global order with a question of possible counterohegemonic model that might alter the dominant world order. Finally, the article presents a number of significant implications--positive and negative--for public administration as a theory and practice, from both American and comparative/international perspectives. Introduction As the new millennium approaches, a new civilization is dawning. The qualitative changes of this civilization have been the subject of many studies. For example, Huntington (1996) speaks of the "clash of civilizations," Fukuyama (1992) predicts "the end of history and man," and Korbin (1996) indicates a "return back to medievalism." The hallmark of this change is the process of globalization, through which worldwide integration and transcendence take place, evoking at least two different intellectual responses. On one hand there are those who argue that the growth of transnational corporations, in particular because of their "state-indifferent" nature, and the spread of global capitalism have made state irrelevant or even obsolescent (Ball, 1967; Naisbitt, 1994; Ohame, 1995). Some think of it as even the end of work (Rifkin, 1975) and of public administration (Stever, 1988). Others believe that global capitalism has led to the generation of suprastate governing agencies that are supplementing, if not supplanting, the territorial nation-states (Picciotto, 1989; Cox, 1993; Korten, 1995). Still others have suggested that this also has eroded the sense of community and urban power structure (Mele, 1996; Knox, 1997; Korten, 1995), causing the loss of urban jobs (Wilson, 1996). They also warn that the merging of the supranational governance agencies has deepened the dependency of less developed countries, exacerbated their fiscal crises, and created a serious problem of governability in those nations (Kregel, 1998). On the other hand, some public administrators and public-policy analysts have predicted that global corporations will create a world order beyond nation-states (Reich, 1991), that is, a "global village" (Garcia-Zamor and Khator, 1994), a "world government" with "global management" (Wilson, 1994). Some theorists have even attempted to develop a universal, global theory of public administration (Caiden, 1994). Others have vocally refuted the idea of the end of the state and have argued for the persistence of the nation-states with all the concomitant implications for public administration (Caiden, 1994; Heady, 1996; Scholte 1997). Hirst and Thompson (1996), Zysman (1996), and Boyer and Drache (1996) have argued that globalization has been exaggerated and that states remain strong in the crucial functions of governance. Some realists in the international relations tradition have argued that "de facto [state] sovereignty has been strengthened rather than weakened" (Krasner 1993, 318). …

Book
06 Dec 1999
TL;DR: In this article, Ray and Sayer discuss social justice in the age of identity politics in the context of the British National Election, 1997 and the 1997 British General Election New Labour.
Abstract: Introduction - Larry Ray and Andrew Sayer Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics - Nancy Fraser Redistribution, Recognition and Participation Valuing Culture and Economy - Andrew Sayer Economy, Equality and Recognition - John O'Neill Market Boundaries and the Commodification of Culture - Russell Keat Reconciling Culture and Economy - Harriet Bradley and Steve Fenton Ways Forward in the Analysis of Gender and Ethnicity Capitalism's Cultural Turn - Nigel Thrift Changing the People - Paul Thompson and Patricia Findlay Social Engineering in the Contemporary Workplace Social Differentiation, Transgression and the Politics of Irony - Larry Ray Performing Politics - Bronislaw Szerszynski The Dramatics of Environmental Protest The Culture Did It - Mary Evans Comments on the 1997 British General Election New Labour - Stephen Driver and Luke Martell Culture and Economy

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The Natural Bias of Labor Productivity and Surplus Labor Labor and Labor Power as Natural and Social Forces Part II: NATURE AND CAPITALISM Nature, Labor, and Capitalist Production Capital's 'Free Appropriation' of natural and social conditions Capitalism and Nature: A Value-form Approach Reconsidering Some Ecological Criticisms of Marx's Value Analysis Capitalism and Environmental Crisis Marx's Working-day Analysis and Environmental crisis Nature and Communism Nature and the Historical Progressivity of Capitalism Nature and Capitalism's Historical Limits Capital, Nature, and Class Struggle Nature and Associated Production
Abstract: Preface Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: NATURE AND HISTORICAL MATERIALISM Requirements of a Social Ecology Nature, Labor, and Production The Natural Bias of Labor Productivity and Surplus Labor Labor and Labor Power as Natural and Social Forces PART II: NATURE AND CAPITALISM Nature, Labor, and Capitalist Production Capital's 'Free Appropriation' of Natural and Social Conditions Capitalism and Nature: A Value-form Approach Reconsidering Some Ecological Criticisms of Marx's Value Analysis Capitalism and Environmental Crisis Marx's Working-day Analysis and Environmental Crisis Nature and Communism Nature and the Historical Progressivity of Capitalism Nature and Capitalism's Historical Limits Capital, Nature, and Class Struggle Nature and Associated Production PART IV: TWO CRITIQUES Reassessing Schmidt's Concept of Nature in Marx A Critique of Neo-Malthusian Marxism, Part I: Society, Nature, and Population A Critique of Neo-Malthusian Marxism, Part II: Labor, Nature and Capital

Book
01 Jun 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the critical issue of wealth creation and show that great wealth is built from economic disequilibrium and that society itself is being reorganized by the changes wrought by the knowledge economy.
Abstract: From the Publisher: MIT Economist, Lester C. Thurow's fascinating look at who will win — and why The rise of knowledge-based industries — microelectronics, biotechnology, telecommunications, robotics, and computers — has improved the lives of millions and brought great riches to individuals, companies, and nations. Yet amidst the new prosperity there is great anxiety. In Building Wealth: The New Rules For Individuals, Companies and Nations In A Knowledge-Based Economy MIT economist and bestselling author Lester C. Thurow provides thorough explanations of the causes of the current anxieties and offers solid economic solutions for the future. Focusing on the critical issue of wealth creation, he shows that great wealth is built from economic disequilibrium and that society itself is being reorganized by the changes wrought by the knowledge economy. While the new technologies allow costs to fall faster than prices, creating a new class of billionaires, these great profits undermine traditional economic stability of the majority — the upper-middle and lower-middle classes. Radical technological advances leading to the development of entirely new industries (like biotechnology) and the transformation of old ones (retailing and banking, for example), the blurring of national borders, and the globalization of companies have all played a role in the creation of this economic disequilibrium and in the rise of national, corporate, and personal anxieties. Addressing the vital question of "how individuals, businesses, and societies generate new wealth when what worked in the twentieth century won't work in the twenty-first," Thurow delineates the building blocks essential to creating and maintaining broad-based prosperity: a stable yet flexible social organization; a business climate that rewards entrepreneurs; the acquisition of basic knowledge and practical skills by the entire workforce; investment in tools that create wealth; and the recognition that technological advances augment, rather than destroy, the environment and natural resources. In-depth discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of the major players in the global economy bring his points to life. For example, America stands out in today's economically unstable world because we, unlike Japan and Europe, have and revere entrepreneurs, the change agents of capitalism, and are willing to close down businesses, which are not part of the new economy. Our failure to adequately train a large portion of the workforce, however, remains a serious flaw in our social and economic fabric. Arguing that "no part of the world, just by accident, has all the ingredients necessary to build a 21st century wealth pyramid," Thurow outlines the tasks — both general and specific — America, Europe, Japan, and the Third World must undertake in order to survive and thrive in the future. His provocative insights and pace-setting rules for forward-thinking nations, companies, and individuals include: Successful companies must be willing to cannibalize themselves to save themselves. They must be willing to destroy the old while it is still successful if they wish to build the new before it is successful. Humans have discovered how to operate successful economies in the midst of modest inflation, but not in the midst of even mild deflation. Given the choice between the same rate of inflation or deflation, take inflation every time. Knowledge-based capitalism isn't going to work without a new system for determining who owns or controls intellectual property rights. Capitalism requires clear, easy-to-enforce ownership rights. The biggest unknown for the individual in a knowledge-based economy is how to have a career in a system where there are no careers. To get wealthy, luck is necessary. Talent, drive, and persistence by themselves aren't enough. The economic payoff from more social investment in basic research is as clear as anything is ever going to be in economics. The transition to a knowledge-based economy will require the re-evaluation — and sometimes radical modification — of government policies and spending, business practices, workforce training and compensation, and even cultural patterns and beliefs. Building Wealth is a bracing look at how the economic game will be played in the future, from the skills and resources necessary for sustaining a competitive advantage to who will emerge as winners. About the Author: Lester C. Thurow is Lemelson Professor of Management and Economics at MIT's Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of the world's leading economists, he is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including the classic, The Zero-Sum Society, Head to Head and The Future of Capitalism.

Book
13 May 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on a characteristic phenomenon of Russian society and economy, barter, and bring us substantially closer to an understanding of the country's economic failure so far, starting with the institutional erosion that Russia has undergone and ending with the partial character of the reforms.
Abstract: In light of the experiences of an entire decade, the economic transition in Russia has repeatedly been assessed as having resulted in unforeseen and extraordinary economic contraction, accompanied by all-round sociopolitical (and monetary) chaos. Such an outcome is all the more disturbing because it emerged in place of what had been expected as the most important result of market-oriented policies and reforms: a profound change in the behavior of the economic actors in accordance with the new market forces. Explanations for the failure are numerous, starting with the institutional erosion that Russia has undergone and ending with the partial character of the reforms. David Woodruffs Money Unmade: Barter and the Fate of Russian Capitalism occupies an important place in the literature on the transition in Russia. By focusing on a characteristic phenomenon of Russian society and economy, barter, the book brings us substantially closer to an understanding of the country's economic failure so far. It demonstrates both the reasons why a barter economy has developed to an unprecedented extent in contemporary Russia, originating in the lack of a state building project with widespread popular support, and why the barter economy constitutes an obstacle of unprecedented potency in the path of Russia's problematic transition. As the title of the book suggests, the author directly links 'unmade money' and barter to 'the fate of Russian capitalism'. Woodruff uses the expression 'making money' as a dual metaphor: in the first place, the expression relates to the Soviet organization of production which functioned not to make money but to implement a plan; in the second place, it signifies the opposite of barter: when an enterprise 'makes money', naturally enough, it receives payment for its goods or services, instead of receiving goods in exchange for goods. When barter proliferates, the enterprise is paid in kind, another important concept in Woodruffs discussion. Hence the expression 'money unmade' signifies a general notion of a barter' dominated economy when enterprises are both unwilling to and incapable of , making money. Hence money as a means of exchange is deprived of any func. tion in the economy. ̀

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a new research agenda for a neo-classical sociology, an agenda concerned with the origins and character of capitalist systems emerging in post-communist Central Europe.
Abstract: I do not know what is like elsewhere, but in Poland sociologists look at social policy writers with a bit of superiority, as the former deal mainly with ‘pure’ science, and social policy analysts represent rather mundane, practical perspectives. And indeed, after reading Making Capitalism Without Capitalists, written by three sociologists based in the USA, I have become much more aware of how close to practice I am as a policy analyst, even if I am interested primarily in social policy strategies and not so much in their implementation. The main purpose of the book is to set a new research agenda for a neo-classical sociology, an agenda concerned with the origins and character of capitalist systems emerging in post-communist Central Europe. In my opinion the authors have succeeded in this. The book is very helpful in explaining how capitalism is developing on the basis of ‘real’ socialism, what actors are building postcommunist capitalism, how social structures are being shaped and the origins and ideology of the new power-elite. From this point of view the most important achievement of the authors seems to be a refutation of a ‘political capitalism’ thesis; in the countries of Central Europe (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) there is little evidence that the nomenclatura (i.e. members of the power-elite under socialism) was successful in acquiring private property. In this respect Central Europe differs substantially from Russia and other East European countries, where conversion of political power into private wealth is evident. Readers interested in theoretical problems of shaping a new socio-economic system and in capturing the dynamics of transformation from a ‘real’ socialism into a market-oriented economy will certainly enrich their knowledge about how these processes are unfolding in the countries of Central Europe. They will learn how capitalism is being created from above and in which ways the formation of private property and class relations affect the nature of capitalism that is being built in the region. All these theoretical issues are obviously of great interest for social policy analysts, but while reading this book I constantly wondered what were the practical implications of ‘capitalism from above’ for dealing with old and newly emerging social problems. The authors admit that they are not fully prepared to answer this question yet. In my opinion, theoretical considerations on ‘making capitalism without capitalists’ are not very helpful in pointing to solutions to the socio-political dilemmas of the transformation process. The book, however, also makes several casual remarks of direct importance for social policy analysts. First of all, the authors identify winners and losers of the transformation. According to them, the main winners are highly educated middle-aged men; major losers are less educated people in their fifties, employed in highly subsidized sectors of the socialist economy. The authors also stress the significance of cultural capital as the most important form of capital in post-communist societies. The Polish experiences also confirm the authors’ belief that the development of the ‘right’ institutions is not sufficient to generate ‘appropriate’ behaviour, and it is certainly not enough to change post-communist mentality. Summing up, it seems to me that the book might be especially interesting to readers from ‘mature’ capitalist countries, providing them with a multifaceted picture of an emerging post-communist capitalist system. One has to remember, however, that the post-communist system in Central Europe is constantly changing, and that the nature of the system will certainly be different in the years to come. The authors are perfectly aware of the ‘transitory’ character of the present conditions, but BOOK REVIEWS

Book
01 Aug 1999
TL;DR: Roots of Reform: Farmers, Workers, and the American State, 1877-1917 as mentioned in this paper argues that the dynamic stimulus for Populist and Progressive Era state expansion was the periphery agrarians' drive to establish public control over a rampaging capitalism.
Abstract: Roots of Reform: Farmers, Workers, and the American State, 1877-1917. By Elizabeth Sanders. American Politics and Political Economy. (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, c. 1999. Pp. x, 532. Paper, $16.00, ISBN 0-226-73477-3; cloth, $48.00, JSBN 0-226-73476-5.) This book should have a powerful impact on the content delivered by textbooks and lecturers in survey courses, injecting far more continuity between the Populist and Progressive periods than historians have allowed. The conventional narrative recognizes some linkage between the People's Party's Omaha platform of 1892 and post-1900 reform, but that convention stresses that the social bases and leadership of reform shifted from farms and rural America and third party activists to cities and urban middle classes and Progressive presidents. Elizabeth Sanders powerfully revises this narrative, arguing that "the dynamic stimulus for Populist and Progressive Era state expansion was the periphery agrarians' drive to establish public control over a rampaging capitalism. The periphery generated the bulk of the reform agenda and furnished the foot soldiers that saw reform through the legislature" (pp. 3-4). The first 147 pages of this book cover the period up to 1896 and offer nothing new in a general way, but this reader's impatience with that situation was allayed by Sanders's bold arguments on many particulars. Regarding the Populists' inability to appeal to workers, Sanders dismisses the notion that the Populists bore full responsibility for that failure. Rather, from the Greenbackers on, Sanders asserts, agrarian reformers, including Bryan in particular, issued strong and consistent appeals to "labor" and "workers," but the latter simply did not respond. Although the book's first section is necessary, it is not an easy read. It is rewarding but might have been briefer given the book's density. Sanders rejects the "capitalist-dominance" thesis that views Progressive Era reform as managed by business and political elites. The capitalist response to new regulation was rather "reactive and largely negative" (p. 4), expressing itself mainly through the executive and the Supreme Court. Whereas earlier interpretations also have centered on presidential leadership, intellectuals, or new professionals, Sanders sharply shifts the focus to the regional political economies of the South and West and, especially, to the congressional representatives of these regions. She also argues that the post-1896 Democratic Party constituted the major vehicle responsible for the federal government's regulatory response to the imbalances of the new industrial-financial economy. William Jennings Bryan emerges in this story as a failing presidential candidate--in 1896, 1900, and 1908--but one who exerted great influence over the Democratic platforms, congressional agenda, and Wilson's New Freedom. Building on the agrarian protests from the 1870s on, and stimulated by renewed rural organization after 1900, Sanders argues that periphery agrarians brought significant government action to "the redefinition of trade policy; the creation of an income tax; a new, publicly controlled banking and currency system; antitrust policy; the regulation of agricultural marketing networks; a nationally financed road system; federal control of railroads, ocean shipping, and early telecommunications; and agricultural and vocational education" (pp. 7-8). The evidential heart of this book is analysis of roll-call voting in Congress from the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 through the Taft and Wilson administrations. Dividing the country into economic regions and subregions, Sanders establishes her argument via three categories of Congressional districts, based primarily on per capita value added in manufacturing: core, diverse, and periphery. Time and again, legislators' votes tended to be polarized between manufacturing-business core and peripheral agrarian districts, with legislators from diverse areas divided or siding with the agrarians. …

01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The welfare state achieved its full development within the nearly closed national economies of the early postwar decades as discussed by the authors, and economically advanced democracies were finally free to exploit the economic efficiency of dynamic capitalism without having to accept its unequal distributional consequences.
Abstract: The capitalist welfare state achieved its full development within the nearly closed national economies of the early postwar decades. After the rampant protectionism following the Great Depression, and after the complete breakdown of world markets in World War II, the restoration of international competition in the markets for industrial goods was a slow process, while agriculture and services remained largely protected, and capital markets tightly controlled in most countries. Behind these protective barriers, economically advanced democracies were finally free to exploit the economic efficiency of dynamic capitalism without having to accept its unequal distributional consequences, and they learned to control the recurrent crises that had been associated with unfettered international capitalism before World War One and, again, in the inter-war period.

Book
28 Oct 1999
TL;DR: Chandrasekaran et al. as discussed by the authors discuss the history and comparative contours of big business and the dynamics of modern economic growth in North America and Western Europe, focusing on the United States and Europe.
Abstract: Preface Part I. Overview: 1. Historical and comparative contours of big business Alfred D. Chandler, Jr 2. The large industrial enterprise and the dynamics of modern economic growth Franco Amatori Part II. National Experiences of Big Business Group 1. Prime Drivers in North America and Western Europe: 3. The United States: engines of economic growth in the capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive industries Takashi Hikino 4. Great Britain: big business, management, and competitiveness in the twentieth century Geoffrey Jones 5. Germany: competition abroad, cooperation at home, 1870-1990 Ulrich Wegenroth 6. Small European nations: cooperative capitalism in the twentieth century Harm G. Schroter Group 2. Followers in Western Europe: 7. France: the relatively slow development of big business in the twentieth century Patrick Fridenson 8. Italy: the tormented rise of organizational capabilities between government and families Albert Carreras 9. Spain: big manufacturing firms between state and market, 1917-90 Xavier Tafunell Group 3. Late Industrializers in East Asia and South America: 10. Japan: increasing organizational capabilities of large industrial enterprises, 1880s-1980s Hidemasa Morikawa 11. South Korea: enterprising groups and entrepreneurial government Alice H. Amsden 12. Argentina: industrial growth and enterprise organization, 1880s-1980s Maria Ines Barbero Group 4. Centrally-Planned Economies in Eastern Europe: 13. USSR: large enterprises - the functional disorder Andrei Yu Yudanov 14. Czechoslovakia: the halting pace to scope and scale Alice Teichova Part III. Economic and Institutional Environment of Big Business: 15. Organizational competences, size, and the wealth of nations: some comments from a comparative perspective Giovanni Dosi and Takashi Hikino 16. Big business and skill formation in the wealthiest nations: the organizational revolution in the twentieth century William Lazonick and Mary O'Sullivan 17. Government, big business, and the wealth of nations Thomas K. McCraw 18. Constructing big business: the cultural concept of the firm Jeffrey R. Fear.

Book
09 Jun 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the critical issue of wealth creation and show that great wealth is built from economic disequilibrium and that society itself is being reorganized by the changes wrought by the knowledge economy.
Abstract: From the Publisher: MIT Economist, Lester C. Thurow's fascinating look at who will win — and why The rise of knowledge-based industries — microelectronics, biotechnology, telecommunications, robotics, and computers — has improved the lives of millions and brought great riches to individuals, companies, and nations. Yet amidst the new prosperity there is great anxiety. In Building Wealth: The New Rules For Individuals, Companies and Nations In A Knowledge-Based Economy MIT economist and bestselling author Lester C. Thurow provides thorough explanations of the causes of the current anxieties and offers solid economic solutions for the future. Focusing on the critical issue of wealth creation, he shows that great wealth is built from economic disequilibrium and that society itself is being reorganized by the changes wrought by the knowledge economy. While the new technologies allow costs to fall faster than prices, creating a new class of billionaires, these great profits undermine traditional economic stability of the majority — the upper-middle and lower-middle classes. Radical technological advances leading to the development of entirely new industries (like biotechnology) and the transformation of old ones (retailing and banking, for example), the blurring of national borders, and the globalization of companies have all played a role in the creation of this economic disequilibrium and in the rise of national, corporate, and personal anxieties. Addressing the vital question of "how individuals, businesses, and societies generate new wealth when what worked in the twentieth century won't work in the twenty-first," Thurow delineates the building blocks essential to creating and maintaining broad-based prosperity: a stable yet flexible social organization; a business climate that rewards entrepreneurs; the acquisition of basic knowledge and practical skills by the entire workforce; investment in tools that create wealth; and the recognition that technological advances augment, rather than destroy, the environment and natural resources. In-depth discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of the major players in the global economy bring his points to life. For example, America stands out in today's economically unstable world because we, unlike Japan and Europe, have and revere entrepreneurs, the change agents of capitalism, and are willing to close down businesses, which are not part of the new economy. Our failure to adequately train a large portion of the workforce, however, remains a serious flaw in our social and economic fabric. Arguing that "no part of the world, just by accident, has all the ingredients necessary to build a 21st century wealth pyramid," Thurow outlines the tasks — both general and specific — America, Europe, Japan, and the Third World must undertake in order to survive and thrive in the future. His provocative insights and pace-setting rules for forward-thinking nations, companies, and individuals include: Successful companies must be willing to cannibalize themselves to save themselves. They must be willing to destroy the old while it is still successful if they wish to build the new before it is successful. Humans have discovered how to operate successful economies in the midst of modest inflation, but not in the midst of even mild deflation. Given the choice between the same rate of inflation or deflation, take inflation every time. Knowledge-based capitalism isn't going to work without a new system for determining who owns or controls intellectual property rights. Capitalism requires clear, easy-to-enforce ownership rights. The biggest unknown for the individual in a knowledge-based economy is how to have a career in a system where there are no careers. To get wealthy, luck is necessary. Talent, drive, and persistence by themselves aren't enough. The economic payoff from more social investment in basic research is as clear as anything is ever going to be in economics. The transition to a knowledge-based economy will require the re-evaluation — and sometimes radical modification — of government policies and spending, business practices, workforce training and compensation, and even cultural patterns and beliefs. Building Wealth is a bracing look at how the economic game will be played in the future, from the skills and resources necessary for sustaining a competitive advantage to who will emerge as winners. About the Author: Lester C. Thurow is Lemelson Professor of Management and Economics at MIT's Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One of the world's leading economists, he is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including the classic, The Zero-Sum Society, Head to Head and The Future of Capitalism.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how these patterns of variation, locked in through intricate pathways of industrialization and democratization, are shaped by growing global interdependence and domestic political and socioeconomic change.
Abstract: Generic concepts such as market economy, capitalism, or democracy conceal as much as they reveal about the ways scarce resources and life chances are allocated in advanced industrial societies. One message the contributions to this volume bring across loud and clear is the need to pay attention to variation in institutional patterns of political and economic governance across wealthy Western countries. This is an insight that goes back at least as far as Shonfield's (1969) seminal study of the interaction between politics and economics in capitalist core countries during the decades of recovery after World War II. It is still true today. For us, and for the contributors to this volume, however, the task of characterizing contemporary capitalism at the end of the twentieth century is more complicated than merely reaffirming cross-sectional patterns of political economic variation. Our most challenging task today is to determine how these patterns of variation, locked in through intricate pathways of industrialization and democratization, are shaped by growing global interdependence and domestic political and socioeconomic change. To what extent are capitalist countries and regions maintaining their “path-dependent” trajectories? Are there pressures toward greater institutional and policy convergence? And even if there are, are there also continuing and new sources of diversity? We want, in other words, to explore not only how the earlier diversity is, and is not, changing but also causal processes behind the emerging patterns.

Book
31 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Gustafson as discussed by the authors describes Russian achievements in building private banks and companies, stock exchanges, new laws and law courts, analyzes the role of the mafia, the rise of new financial empires, entrepreneurs and business tycoons, and shrinking Russian state.
Abstract: For a decade Russia has been dismantling communism and building capitalism. Describing a deeply flawed fledgling market economy, Capitalism Russian-Style provides a progress report on one of the most important economic experiments going on in the world today. It describes Russian achievements in building private banks and companies, stock exchanges, new laws and law courts. It analyzes the role of the mafia, the rise of new financial empires, entrepreneurs and business tycoons, and the shrinking Russian state. Thane Gustafson tells how the Soviet system was dismantled and the new market society was born. He argues that this new society is changing constantly, so that any assessment of success and failure would be premature. Identifying investment as vital to preserving Russia's status as a major industrial power, in his final chapter he examines the prospects for an economic miracle in Russia in the twenty-first century.

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The life code versus the money code: The paradigm shift as discussed by the authors is a classic example of the paradigm shift in the market model of finance. But it is not a good fit for the modern market model.
Abstract: 1.The Ancient Taboo 2. The Pathologisation of the Market Model 3. The Social Immune System and the Cancer Stage of Capitalism 4. The Life Code versus the Money code: The paradigm Shift 5. The Great Vehicle of the Civil Commons Notes Index

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In the 1980s and 1990s, social democratic parties have experienced unprecedented difficulties in choosing and implementing economic policies as mentioned in this paper, and the pressure to make choices in innovative ways, in turn has generated strains in social democratic party organizations and has affected the loyalty of party members and activists.
Abstract: In the 1980s and 1990s, social democratic parties have experienced unprecedented difficulties in choosing and implementing economic policies. At the same time, they have found it harder to frame electoral appeals in an increasingly complex environment of party competition. The pressure to make choices in innovative ways, in turn, has generated strains in social democratic party organizations and has affected the loyalty of party members and activists. Explaining the diverse trajectories of European social democratic parties in these decades requires a substantive and a theoretical departure from conventional accounts of social democratic success that worked well for the post–World War II era labeled by some contributions to this volume the “golden age” of social democracy. In substantive terms, if social democracy has the fundamental objective of moderating wage earners' exposure to market risks (due to sickness, old age, unemployment) and engineering significant income redistribution toward the less fortunate in society, while promoting economic growth, then the strategic opportunities for such policies have dramatically changed since the 1950s and 1960s. In those decades, high postwar economic growth rates, a stable proportion of the population in retirement, national controls over financial markets, and the absence of competition from newly industrializing countries allowed social democrats to expand the welfare state and create full employment while maintaining balanced budgets.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Future of the Social Turn: Social Minds and the New Capitalism as discussed by the authors is a book about the future of the social turn in language and social interaction, focusing on language and interaction.
Abstract: (1999). The Future of the Social Turn: Social Minds and the New Capitalism. Research on Language and Social Interaction: Vol. 32, No. 1-2, pp. 61-68.

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Meiksins Wood as discussed by the authors argues that existing accounts of capitalism's origins fail to recognize its distinctive attributes as a social system by making its emergence seem natural and inevitable, and challenges most existing accounts.
Abstract: Ellen Meiksins Wood challenges most existing accounts of capitalism's origins, arguing that they fail to recognize its distinctive attributes as a social system by making its emergence seem natural and inevitable.

BookDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define a set of terms for Historical Archaeology of Capitalism: Setting some terms for historical Archaeologies of Capitalism M.P.Leone and M.R.Johnson.
Abstract: Issues in a Historical Archaeology Devoted to Studying Capitalism: Setting Some Terms for Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism M.P. Leone. Where The Questions Come From: Why Should Historical Archaeologists Study Capitalism? The Logic of Question and Answer and the Challenge of Systemic Analysis A. Wylie. Historical Archaeology and Identity in Modern America P.B. Botter, Jr. The Contested Commons: Archaeologies of Race, Repression, and Resistance in New York City T.W. Epperson. Integration into Capitalism and Impoverishment: Ex Occidente Lux? An Archaeology of Later Capitalism in the Nineteenth Century West M. Purser. Archaeology and the Challenges of Capitalist Farm Tenancy in America C.E. Orser, Jr. 'A Bold and Gorgeous Front': The Contradictions of African America and Consumer Culture P.R. Mullins. Ceramics from Annapolis, Maryland: A Measure of Time Routines and Work Discipline M.P. Leone. Beyond North America: Historical, Archaeology, Capitalism M. Johnson. Index.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Corporate governance is more than simply the relationship between the firm and its capital providers, but corporate governance also implicates how the various constituencies that define the business enterprise serve, and are served by, the corporation.
Abstract: MICHAEL BRADLEY [*] CINDY A. SCHIPANI [**] ANANT K. SUNDARAM [***] JAMES P. WALSH [****] INTRODUCTION Change is ubiquitous in contemporary society, and nowhere more so than in the operations of the large-scale, public corporation. Dramatic changes are underway, not only in the structure of corporate activity in areas such as the nature of work and the nature of organizational form, but also in the product and financial markets and the regulatory environment within which corporations operate. The depth and rapidity of these changes compel a reassessment of the ability of various governance structures to cope and adapt. The consequences of these changes for governance have taken on an even greater sense of urgency in light of the transformations that have taken place in Eastern and Central Europe with the demise of the Soviet Union and with the economic convulsions of 1997 and 1998 in Southeast Asia. These events have brought into focus the nature of governance practices in those economies. The epic battle between capitalism and communism has largely been resolved in favor of capitalism -- at least for the foreseeable future. Similarly, the reform questions in Southeast Asia are increasingly centered on the transition from one form of capitalism to another. Academics, practitioners, and policymakers, however, have an ambiguous vision of the type of capitalism that would best serve the economic and political order emerging in these parts of the world. The particular form of capitalism that ultimate ly will develop is substantially predicated on the institutions that will arise from this social upheaval and the organizational structures that will evolve for the provision of goods and services. Understanding this process will require not only an understanding of the nature of the changes that are underway, but also a reassessment of the paradigms of corporate governance and their ability to inform, respond to, and even shape such change. Traditionally, the phrase "corporate governance" invokes a narrow consideration of the relationships between the firm's capital providers and top managers, as mediated by its board of directors. [1] For example, Andrei Shleifer and Robert W. Vishny define corporate governance as the process that "deals with the ways in which suppliers of finance to corporations assure themselves of getting a return on their investment." [2] But corporate governance is more than simply the relationship between the firm and its capital providers. Corporate governance also implicates how the various constituencies that define the business enterprise serve, and are served by, the corporation. Implicit and explicit relationships between the corporation and its employees, creditors, suppliers, customers, host communities -- and relationships among these constituencies themselves--fall within the ambit of a relevant definition of corporate governance. As such, the phrase calls into scrutiny not only the definition of the corporate form, but also its purposes and its accountability to each of the relevant constituencies. A basic goal of this article is to examine the changing nature of the business enterprise and its implications for the theory and practice of corporate governance across the range of corporate constituencies. The academic literature in law, economics, finance, strategy, and management presumes that governance problems are largely a result of the "agency" problems that arise from the separation of ownership and control in the largescale, public corporation. Perhaps the best example of this perspective is the famous article by Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling, [3] which, building upon the earlier works of Ronald Coase, [4] Oliver E. Williamson, [5] and Armen A. Alchian and Harold Demsetz, [6] posits that the incentives of corporate managers to maximize shareholder value are proportional to the fraction of the firm's shares they hold in their personal portfolios. …