S. Vitali, J.B. Glattfelder, S. Battiston: The Network of Global Corporate Control (2011)

The structure of the control network of transnational corporations affects global market competition and financial stability. So far, only small national samples were studied and there was no appropriate methodology to assess control globally. We present the first investigation of the architecture of the international ownership network, along with the computation of the control held by each global player. We find that transnational corporations form a giant bow-tie structure and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions. This core can be seen as an economic “super-entity” that raises new important issues both for researchers and policy makers. (Abstract)

By Stefania Vitali, James B. Glattfelder, Stefano Battiston
Second version
Published on 19 September 2011
36 pages

commentary (Andy Coghlan and Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist)

More information (arXiv.org)

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