Ebbs and Flows of French Capitalism

Pierre Francois (1) , Claire Lemercier (1)

1 CSO - Centre de sociologie des organisations (Sciences Po, CNRS)

This chapter discusses the origins and significance of the fact that most of the largest French firms are tied in a dense network by common board members; it defines four distinct phases in the evolution of this network in the 20th century. Their analysis qualifies classical depictions of French capitalism as State- or family-based. While the State and elite families play important roles in this story, what is more important is the existence of two statutory hierarchies: that between firms, which consistently shapes their choice of directors, and that between directors, which has always given a prominent bridging role to former civil servants.

Keywords: Corporations; Interlocking directorates; France; 20th century

Keywords: Grandes entreprises

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Sociology

Pierre Francois, Claire Lemercier. Ebbs and Flows of French Capitalism. The Power of Corporate Networks. A Comparative and Historical Perspective, Routledge, pp.149 - 168, 2015, 9780415729741. ⟨hal-01445970⟩