Big Business and the Wealth of Nations

by Alfred D. Chandler Jr, Franco Amatori, Takashi Hikino

Overview

Written in nontechnical terms, this book explains how the dynamics of big business have influenced national and international economies. A path-breaking study, it provides the first systematic treatment of big business in advanced, emerging, and centrally-planned economies from the late nineteenth century, when big businesses first appeared, to the present. Large industrial enterprises play a vital role in developing new technologies and commercializing new products in all of the major countries. How such firms emerged and evolved in different economic, political, and social settings constitutes a significant part of twentieth century world history. These essays, written by internationally-known historians and economists, help one understand the essential role and functions of big business.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521663472
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/28/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	612
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.94(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

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. Schröter; 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 María Inés 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.

Editorial Reviews

"While it is often tricky business to try to combine a variety of perspectives on any one subject, this ambitious, interdisciplinary approach to the study of the multinational corporation is vastly informative as well as path-breaking. Alfred Chandler and Bruce Mazlish have written fine bracketing essays that pull it all together. No one will come away from these well-chosen and erudite studies spanning history, economics, and sociology without a richer perspective on the multinational corporation and its evolving impacts." George Smith, NYU Stern School of Business

"In this important book leading scholars present new facts and brilliant insights concerning the legitimacy of the corporate giants that drive the irreversible processes of globalization. Wise managers will read it carefully." George C. Lodge, Harvard Business School

"While it is often tricky business to try to combine a variety of perspectives on any one subject, this ambitious, interdisciplinary approach to the study of the multinational corporation is vastly informative as well as path-breaking. Alfred Chandler and Bruce Mazlish have written fine bracketing essays that pull it all together. No one will come away from these well-chosen and erudite studies spanning history, economics, and sociology without a richer perspective on the multinational corporation and its evolving impacts." George Smith, NYU Stern School of Business

"In this important book leading scholars present new facts and brilliant insights concerning the legitimacy of the corporate giants that drive the irreversible processes of globalization. Wise managers will read it carefully." George C. Lodge, Harvard Business School

From the Publisher