Mary O'Sullivan

The political economy of comparative corporate governance

Contemporary research on comparative corporate governance was initially preoccupied with the question of differences in national systems of corporate governance. In recent years, however, the focus has shifted to change as some scholars argue that there are growing pressures on national systems of corporate governance to converge on a model that supports an increased focus on shareholder value, that is, a model that closely resembles the US system of corporate governance. In opposition to this view, others predict that systems of corporate governance around the world will continue to diverge. Drawing on the examples of France and Germany I show that considerable change has indeed occurred in national governance systems. Particularly important has been the growing influence of the stock market. Existing theories are inadequate for understanding the political economy of the changes that have taken place in the French and German systems of corporate governance as well as the likelihood that they will continue to evolve in the direction of shareholder value. To support this claim I focus on a common, and fundamental, deficiency in all of the theoretical approaches to the subject, that is, the weakness in their analysis of the relationship between the changing role of the stock market and the productive capabilities of particular national economies.

The sustainability of industrial development in Ireland

One of the most successful economies of the last decade has undoubtedly been the `Celtic Tiger’ of Ireland. While many have anticipated the failure of the ongoing boom in the Irish economy throughout the last decade, output has continued to grow at rates averaging over 5% per year since the late 1980s. Such a record of growth has not negated a pessimism born out of the problems with generating a vibrant sustainable industrial base in Ireland as well as with the divisions that the expansion has engendered or failed to address (SWEENEY, 1998; TANSEY, 1998). Nevertheless, Ireland has been held up as an exemplar for a number of other countries, not least her neighbours of Scotland and Wales in their post-devolution states. Associated with the drive to create contemporary industrial districts, clusters and global economies in these countries, eVorts to generate the same conditions as exist in Ireland have raised questions over whether the experiences and factor conditions can be transferred to similar economies. Continuing the series of papers on this theme from the previous edition of Debates and Surveys (Regional Studies 34, issue 2) this article asks to what extent recent industrial growth in Ireland can be interpreted as evidence that the challenge of generating a sustainable process of development has ® nally been met. Mary O’Sullivan suggests that sustainable industrial development is critically dependent on the process through which productive resources are developed and utilized to generate higher quality, lower cost products; this process is generally described as innovation. Using an analysis of patent data for Irish-based industrial enterprises, she argues that the level of understanding of the long term signi® cance of the current boom is still insuYcient to draw robust conclusions. In particular, the degree to which the capabilities to generate innovation have been embedded in Ireland by foreign or indigenous enterprises is considered to be poorly understood. Only by raising critical questions about internal enterprise organization and inter® rm relations can questions about the sustainability of the current wave of Irish industrial success be addressed.

Corporate governance and sustainable prosperity

How can we explain the persistent worsening of the income distribution in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s? What are the prospects for the re-emergence of sustainable prosperity in the US economy over the next generation? Situating these questions within a wider context through historical analysis and comparisons with Germany and Japan, this book focuses on the microeconomics of corporate investment behaviour, and the macroeconomics of household saving behaviour. Specifically, the contributors analyze how the combined pressures of excessive corporate growth, international competition, and intergenerational dependence have influenced corporate investment over the past two decades. They also offer a perspective on how corporate investment in skill bases can support sustainable prosperity, with studies drawn from the machine tool, aircraft engine, and medical equipment industries.

The Political Economy of Global Finance Capital

The globalization of finance in recent years and the concurrent growth in the financial sectors influence, manifested most dramatically in the recent financial crisis, highlights the importance for political scientists of understanding the political economy of global finance. The authors review six important books that are representative of recent thinking by political scientists on the topic. They address the central questions that have been at the heart of the literature on global finance from its beginning in new and interesting ways. The most important developments highlighted in this article are the move from a predominant focus on state-centered patterns of regulation to the consideration of transnational governance regimes that mix public and private regulation; the effort to understand the causal forces that shape the political economy of global finance by allowing for an interaction among interests, institutions, and ideas; and giving increased attention to new sources of systemic risk in the global financial system, as well to the consequences for domestic politics of interactions with the global financial system. Notwithstanding the progress that has been made in coming to grips with the political economy of global finance, the authors highlight a number of questions that need to be addressed in future research. Although various nonstate actors have been recognized as important in the constitution of the rules of global finance, it is also necessary to understand the behavior of the actors who enact these rules. It is also important to generate evidence that forges some agreement on the causes of the globalization of finance, especially as the arguments made become more complex. Finally, there is a need for a more realistic assessment of the costs and benefits of financialization at the global and national levels. This last challenge is essential for a thorough understanding of the current global financial crisis.

Guest Editors' Introduction: Moving Forward by Looking Backward - Business History and Management Studies

There are already manifold interactions between business history and management studies but, to date, they have tended to be more particular and patchy than general and systematic. In this introduction we summarize the arguments that scholars from business history, management studies and social science have made for closer contact between these fields which emphasize the benefits to be gained both for theoretical and historical research on business. We highlight how the articles published in this Special Issue show the wide variety of intellectual purposes, approaches, and benefits that closer engagement between business history and management theories might entail. Yet, concerns have also been raised about the value of a closer alliance between business history and management studies and we suggest that they are worthy of further consideration and discussion. To that end, we propose a more deliberate conversation about what it is we do as historians and theorists of business and what we seek to accomplish. Such a discussion would help us not only to better understand the limits to fruitful integration but also how to work together more productively in the collaborations that seem most worthwhile.

Usinor-Arcelor: Du local au global …

In this book, based on his doctoral thesis at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Eric Godelier constructs the history of the French steel company, Usinor, by drawing extensively on the company’s archives as well as interviews with surviving employees. He begins his account with the company’s formation in 1948 and provides a comprehensive analysis of its evolution until 1986 when Usinor merged with its French competitor, Sacilor, to create a giant enterprise that controlled more than 90 per cent of steel production in France. In an epilogue to the main story, Godelier also brings the reader up to date with a useful summary of more recent developments, including Usinor’s transformation into Arcelor in 2002 and, finally, its pursuit by Mittal in an unsolicited takeover bid in 2006. The story that Godelier tells is interesting and important. It serves a useful purpose in its effort to use business history to inform the existing literature on the preand post-war history of the French steel industry. Moreover, as Patrick Fridenson notes in his preface, the book also has the potential to speak to several important issues that animate more general discussions in business history and beyond. In the first part of this review, I will summarize the history of Usinor as Godelier recounts it. I will then return to the broader questions that this history evokes and consider what Godelier has to say about them. Usinor (Union Sidérurgique du Nord de la France) was formed in 1948 from the merger of the iron and steel holdings of the Société des forges et aciéries de DenainAnzin (Denain-Anzin) and the Société des forges et aciéries du Nord et de l’Est (Nord-Est). Both mother companies were family-owned enterprises whose origins dated back to 1834 and 1881 respectively. They had begun to develop plans for greater commercial and technical co-operation during World War II but the project assumed a much more ambitious quality in the post-war period when, at the initiative of Denain-Anzin, Usinor became the vehicle for the installation of the first continuous hot rolling mill in France. This technology had been used in the United States from the 1920s and in Europe, notably in Germany and the UK, from the late 1930s. Denain-Anzin had considered Business History, Vol. 49, No. 5, September 2007, 737–743

Recent Developments in Irish-based Industry

This volume raises an important question: Given the fast-changing global economy and the challenges it presents, what is the role for the university as an institution promoting sustainable human development? The editors begin by outlining the changes associated with the recent wave of globalization, particularly transformations in the relative power of institutions internationally. They analyze the constraints universities face in industrialized and developing countries in promoting sustainable human development.