Abstract
This study presents a prosopographical analysis of the Finnish business elite. The longitudinal panel dataset includes 456 members of family firms from 1762–2010 who have received the honorary title of counsellor in Finland. Counsellor biographies have been written by an economic history association network of 130 historians. Most family firms are no longer elite after the third generation of the family business or the second counsellor generation; therefore, the same core families rarely remain part of the economic elite for more than 100 years.
Notes
1. This study focuses on counsellors with the Finnish honorary titles kauppaneuvos (counsellor of sales and trade), vuorineuvos (counsellor of mining), talousneuvos (counsellor of commerce), maanviljelyneuvos (counsellor of agriculture), and teollisuusneuvos (counsellor of industry).
2. , “The Forms of Capital,” 53–55, and “The Social Space,” 723–724.
49. CitationBrockhaus, “Family Business Succession”; CitationCater III and Justis, “The Development”; CitationChrisman, Kellermanns, Chan, and Liano, “Intellectual Foundations”; CitationHolt and Popp, “Emotion”; CitationLe Breton-Miller, Miller, and Steier, “Toward an Integrative Model”; Mazzola, Marchisio, and Astrachan, “Using the Strategic Planning Process”; CitationWesthead, “Succession Decision-making.”
55. Fernández Moya, “A Family-owned Publishing Multinational.”
60. The author would like to thank the Finnish Economic History Association; the authors of the biographies (130 academic researchers in the network of the Finnish Economic History Association); the leader and editor of the project, professor Ilkka Nummela (University of Jyväskylä) and the managing editor, Kirsi Keravuori (Biographical Centre, Finnish Literature Society), for their mentoring; Tuomas Möttönen (University of Jyväskylä), Samppa Penttinen (University of Jyväskylä), Teemu Tuomisalo (University of Jyväskylä), Risto Valjus (Biographical Centre, Finnish Literature Society) and Niklas Alén (Biographical Centre, Finnish Literature Society) for their support and assistance; the project supervisory board members professors Susanna Fellman and Jari Ojala; and the project researcher, Tiina Hemminki.
HabbershonT. G., and J.Pistrui. “Enterprising Families Domain: Family-Influenced Ownership Groups in Pursuit of Transgenerational Wealth.” Family Business Review15, no. 3 (2002): 223–237. HabbershonT. G., and M. L.Williams. “A Resource-based Framework for Assessing the Strategic Advantages of Family Firms.” Family Business Review12, no. 1 (1999): 1–25. SalvatoC., and L.Melin. “Creating Value Across Generations in Family-controlled Businesses: The Role of Family Social Capital.” Family Business Review21, no. 3 (2008): 259–276. ColliA.The History of Family Business, 1850–2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. NordqvistM. “Understanding Strategy Processes in Family Firms: Exploring the Roles of Actors and Arenas.” International Small Business Journal30, no. 1 (2012): 24–40. JensenM., and E. J.Zajac. “Corporate Elites and Corporate Strategy: How Demographic Preferences and Structural Position Shape the Scope of the Firm.” Strategic Management Journal25, no. 6 (2004): 507–524. HabbershonT. G., M.Nordqvist, and T. M.Zellweger. “Transgenerational Entrepreneurship.” In Transgenerational Entrepreneurship. Exploring Growth and Performance in Family Firms Across Generations, edited by M.Nordqvist and T. M.Zellweger, 1–38. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2010. VianelloM. “Gender Differences in Access to and Exercise of Power.” Current Sociology52, no. 3 (2004): 501–518. FellmanS. “Prosopographic Studies of Business Leaders for Understanding Industrial and Corporate Change.” Business History56, no. 1 (2014): 5–21. GhentJ. M., and F. C.Jaher. “The Chicago Business Elite: 1830–1930. A Collective Biography.” The Business History Review50, no. 3 (1976): 288–328. MonsenR. J. “The Unrecognized Social Revolution: The Rise of the New Business Elite in America.” California Management Review14, no. 2 (1971): 13–17. MacleanM., C.Harvey, and R.Chia. “Reflexive Practice and the Making of Elite Business Careers.” Management Learning43, no. 4 (2012): 385–404. SalvatoC., and H. E.Aldrich. “‘That's Interesting!’ in Family Business Research.” Family Business Review25, no. 2 (2012): 125–135. BoydR. L. “Transformation of the Black Business Elite.” Social Science Quarterly87, no. 3 (2006): 602–617. CampRoderic A. “Informal and Formal Networking among Elite Mexican Capitalists and Politicians.” Comparative Sociology2, no. 1 (2003): 135–154. TedlowR. S., and W.Friedman. “Statistical Portraits of American Business Elites: A Review Essay.” Business History45, no. 4 (2003): 89–113. HaxhiI., H.van Ees, and A.Sorge. “A Political Perspective on Business Elites and Institutional Embeddedness in the UK Code-issuing Process.” Corporate Governance: An International Review21, no. 6 (2013): 535–546. HarveyC., and M.Maclean. “Capital Theory and the Dynamics of Elite Business Networks in Britain and France.” The Sociological Review56 suppl. s1 (2008): 103–120. ColliA., C.Howorth, and M.Rose. “Long-term Perspectives on Family Business.” Business History55, no. 6 (2013): 841–854. MackieR. “Family Ownership and Business Survival: Kirkcaldy 1870–1970.” Business History43, no. 3 (2001): 1–32. CooksonG. “Family Firms and Business Networks: Textile Engineering in Yorkshire, 1780–1830.” Business History39, no. 1 (1997): 1–20. LitzR. A., A. W.Pearson, and S.Litchfield. “Charting the Future of Family Business Research: Perspectives from the Field.” Family Business Review25, no. 1 (2012): 16–32. CassisY. “Business Elites and Business History.” In Historical Perspectives on Corporate Governance: Reflections on Ownership, Participation and Different Modes on Organizing, edited by S.Fellman, A.Kuusterä, and E.Vaara, 25–36. Helsinki: Vammala, The Finnish Society for Science and Letters, 2008. GinalskiS. “Business Elites and Family Capitalism: The Case of the Swiss Metallurgy Industry during the 20th Century.” Paper presented at the 14th Annual Conference of the European Business History Association, Glasgow, Scotland, August 26–28, 2010. GinalskiS., F.Bühlmann, T.David, and A.Mach. “Swiss Business Elites in the First Half of the 20th Century (1910–1957): From Cosmopolitan to National Elites.” Paper presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the European Business History Association, Uppsala, Sweden, August 22–24, 2013. SharmaP. “An Overview of the Field of Family Business Studies: Current Status and Directions for the Future.” Family Business Review17, no. 1 (2004): 1–36. BartonA. H. “Determinants of Economic Attitudes in the American Business Elite.” American Journal of Sociology91, no. 1 (1985): 54–87. ContiJ. A., and M.O'Neil. “Studying Power: Qualitative Methods and the Global Elite.” Qualitative Research7, no. 1 (2007): 63–82. RuostetsaariI. “The Anatomy of the Finnish Power Elite.” Scandinavian Political Studies16, no. 4 (1993): 305–337. MacleanM. “Corporate Governance in France and the UK: Long-term Perspectives on Contemporary Institutional Arrangements.” Business History41, no. 1 (1999): 88–116. DoganM. “Introduction: Diversity of Elite Configurations and Clusters of Power.” Comparative Sociology2, no. 1 (2003): 1–15. ClarkE., and A.Soulsby. “The Re-formation of the Managerial Elite in the Czech Republic.” Europe-Asia Studies48, no. 2 (1996): 285–303. KadushinC. “Friendship among the French Financial Elite.” American Sociological Review60, no. 2 (1995): 202–221. DavisonJ. “[In]visible [In]tangibles: Visual Portraits of the Business Élite.” Accounting Organizations and Society35, no. 2 (2010): 165–183. UseemM., and A.McCormack. “The Dominant Segment of the British Business Elite.” Sociology15, no. 3 (1981): 381–406. YooT., and S.Hee Lee. “In Search of Social Capital in State-activist Capitalism: Elite Networks in France and Korea.” Organization Studies30, no. 5 (2009): 529–547. MacleanM., C.Harvey, and J.Press. “Managerialism and the Post-war Evolution of the French National Business System.” Business History49, no. 4 (2007): 531–551. BassettK. “Partnerships, Business Elites and Urban Politics: New Forms of Governance in an English City?” Urban Studies33, no. 3 (1996): 539–555. ColliA., and M.Rose. “Family Business.” In The Oxford Handbook of Business History, edited by G. G.Jones and J.Zeitlin, 194–218. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. AmatoriF., and A.Colli. Business History: Complexities and Comparisons. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011. KryshtanovskayaO., and S.White. “From Soviet Nomenklatura to Russian Elite.” Europe-Asia Studies48, no. 5 (1996): 711–733. KryshtanovskayaO., and S.White. “The Rise of the Russian Business Elite.” Communist and Post-Communist Studies38, no. 3 (2005): 293–307. ShurchkovO. “New Elites and Their Influence on Entrepreneurial Activity in Russia.” Journal of Comparative Economics40, no. 2 (2012): 240–255. AndrleV. “The Buoyant Class: Bourgeois Family Lineage in the Life Stories of Czech Business Elite Persons.” Sociology35, no. 4 (2001): 815–833. WalderA. G. “Elite Opportunity in Transitional Economies.” American Sociological Review68, no. 6 (2003): 899–916. DavisK., M. J.Trebilcock, and B.Heys. “Ethnically Homogeneous Commercial Elites in Developing Countries.” Law and Policy in International Business32, no. 2 (2001): 331–361. HigleyJ., U.Hoffmann-Lange, C.Kadushin, and G.Moore. “Elite Integration in Stable Democracies: A Reconsideration.” European Sociological Review7, no. 1 (1991): 35–53. UseemM. “The Social Organization of the American Business Elite and Participation of Corporation Directors in the Governance of American Institutions.” American Sociological Review44, no. 4 (1979): 553–572. HeemskerkE. M. “The Rise of the European Corporate Elite: Evidence from the Network of Interlocking Directorates in 2005 and 2010.” Economy and Society42, no. 1 (2013): 74–101. MizruchiM. S. “What Do Interlocks Do? An Analysis, Critique, and Assessment of Research on Interlocking Directorates.” Annual Review of Sociology22 (1996): 271–298. ScottJ. “Networks of Corporate Power: A Comparative Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology17 (1991): 181–203. Shavit, Y., and H. -P.Blossfeld, eds. Persistent Inequality: Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993. HeemskerkE., and M.Fennema. “Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite.” International Sociology24, no. 6 (2009): 807–832. GoodmanP. “Ethics and Enterprise: The Values of a Boston Elite, 1800–1860.” American Quarterly18, no. 3 (1966): 437–451. BourdieuP.The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. (translated by L.C. Clough). Cambridge: Blackwell, 1996. HartmannM. “Class-specific Habitus and the Social Reproduction of the Business Elite in Germany and France.” The Sociological Review48, no. 2 (2000): 262–282. SavethE. N. “Education of an Elite.” History of Education Quarterly28, no. 3 (1998): 367–386. MastekaasaA. “Social Origins and Recruitment to Norwegian Business and Public Sector Elites.” European Sociological Review20, no. 3 (2004): 221–235. ChungC. N., and X. R.Luo. “Leadership Succession and Firm Performance in an Emerging Economy: Successor Origin, Relational Embeddedness, and Legitimacy.” Strategic Management Journal34, no. 3 (2013): 338–357. MurrayB. “The Succession Transition Process: A Longitudinal Perspective.” Family Business Review16, no. 1 (2003): 17–33. LambrechtJ., and R.Donckels. “Towards a Business Family Dynasty: A Lifelong, Continuing Process.” In Handbook of Family Business Research, edited by P. Z.Poutziouris, K. X.Smyrnios, and S. B.Klein, 388–401. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006. BrockhausR. H. “Family Business Succession: Suggestions for Future Research.” Family Business Review17, no. 2 (2004): 165–177. CaterJ. J.III, and R. T.Justis. “The Development of Successors from Followers to Leaders in Small Family Firms: An Exploratory Study.” Family Business Review22, no. 2 (2009): 109–124. ChrismanJ. J., F. W.Kellermanns, K. C.Chan, and K.Liano. “Intellectual Foundations of Current Research in Family Business: An Identification and Review of 25 Influential Articles.” Family Business Review23, no. 1 (2010): 9–26. HoltR., and A.Popp. “Emotion, Succession, and the Family Firm: Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.” Business History55, no. 6 (2013): 892–909. Le Breton-MillerI., D.Miller, and L. P.Steier. “Toward an Integrative Model of Effective FOB Succession.” Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice28, no. 4 (2004): 305–328. WestheadP. “Succession Decision-making Outcomes Reported by Private Family Companies.” International Small Business Journal21, no. 4 (2003): 369–401. BlumentrittT., T.Mathews, and G.Marchisio. “Game Theory and Family Business Succession: An Introduction.” Family Business Review26, no. 1 (2013): 51–67. ZahraS. A., and P.Sharma. “Family Business Research: A Strategic Reflection.” Family Business Review17, no. 4 (2004): 331–346. MillerD., and I.Le Breton-Miller. “Family Governance and Firm Performance: Agency, Stewardship, and Capabilities.” Family Business Review19, no. 1 (2006): 73–87. MillerD., L.Steier, and I.Le Breton-Miller. “Lost in Time: Intergenerational Succession, Change, and Failure in Family Business.” Journal of Business Venturing18, no. 4 (2003): 513–531. SteierL. P., and D.Miller. “Pre- and Post-succession Governance Philosophies in Entrepreneurial Family Firms.” Journal of Family Business Strategy1, no. 3 (2010): 145–154. DebickiB. J., C. F.MatherneIII, F. W.Kellermanns, and J. J.Chrisman. “Family Business Research in the New Millennium: An Overview of the Who, the Where, the What. and the Why.” Family Business Review22, no. 2 (2009): 151–166. GinalskiS. “Can Families Resist Managerial and Financial Revolutions? Swiss Family Firms in the Twentieth Century.” Business History55, no. 6 (2013): 981–1000. San RománE., P.Fernández Pérez, and Á.Gil López. “As Old as History: Family-controlled Business Groups in Transport Services: The Case of SEUR.” Business History (January 2014):, 10.1080/00076791.2013.851523. SardeshmukhS. R., and A. C.Corbett. “The Duality of Internal and External Development of Successors: Opportunity Recognition in Family Firms.” Family Business Review24, no. 2 (2011): 111–125. ColliA., P.Fernández Pérez, and M. B.Rose. “National Determinants of Family Firm Development? Family Firms in Britain, Spain, and Italy in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.” Enterprise and Society4, no. 1 (2003): 28–64. FellmanS.Uppkomsten av en Direktörsprofession: Industriledarnas Utbildning och Karriär i Finland 1900–1975. Bidrag till Kännedom av Finlands Natur och Folk 155. Helsinki: Finska Vetenskaps-Societen, 2000. RowlinsonM., J.Hassard, and S.Decker. “Research Strategies for Organizational History: A Dialogue between Historical Theory and Organization Theory.” Academy of Management Review39, no. 3 (2014): 250–274. FellmanS. “Prosopographic Studies of Business Leaders for Understanding Industrial and Corporate Change.” Business History56, no. 1 (2014): 5–21. ColliA. “Contextualizing Performances of Family Firms: The Perspective of Business History.” Family Business Review25, no. 3 (2012): 243–257. Jeremy, D. J. ed. Dictionary of Business Biography: A Biographical Dictionary of Business Leaders Active in Britain in the Period 1860–1980. 5 vols. London: Butterworths, 1984–86. MathisenR. W. “Where Are All the PDBs? The Creation of Prosopographical Databases for the Ancient and Medieval Worlds.” In Prosopography Approaches and Application: A Handbook. vol. 13, edited by K. S. B.Keats-Rohan, 95–126. Hockley: Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, The University of Oxford, 2007. LambkinB. “Towards a Prosopography of European Migration.” AEMI Journal8, no. 1 (2010): 19–23. RugginiL. C. “Rome in Late Antiquity: Clientship, Urban Topography, and Prosopography.” Classical Philology98, no. 4 (2003): 366–382. AlbrightW. F. “Cuneiform Material for Egyptian Prosopography 1500–1200 B.C.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies5, no. 1 (1946): 7–25. MathisenR. W. “The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” In Fifty Years of Prosopography: The Later Roman Empire, Byzantium and Beyond, edited by A.Cameron, 23–40. Proceedings of the British Academy 118. Oxford: Oxford University Press/British Academy, 2003. BarnishS. J. B. “Late Roman Prosopography Reassessed.” Journal of Roman Studies84, no. 1 (1994): 171–177. RichP. “Forward: Developments in Policy Prosopography, 2010.” Policy Studies Journal38 suppl. s1 (2010): vii–vix. SpitzerA. B. “Malicious Memories: Restoration Politics and a Prosopography of Turncoats.” French Historical Studies24, no. 1 (2001): 37–61. McConicaJ. K. “The Prosopography of the Tudor University.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History3, no. 3 (1973): 543–554. WestA. B. “Notes on Achaean Prosopography and Chronology.” Classical Philology23, no. 3 (1928): 258–269. BernsteinA. H. “Prosopography and the Career of Publius Mucius Scaevola.” Classical Philology67, no. 1 (1972): 42–46. BarmanR., and J.Barman. “The Prosopography of the Brazilian Empire.” Latin American Research Review13, no. 2 (1978): 78–97. VerbovenK., M.Carlier, and J.Dumolyn. “A Short Manual to the Art of Prosopography.” In Prosopography Approaches and Applications: A Handbook, edited by K. S. B.Keats-Rohan, 35–69. Hockley: Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, The University of Oxford, 2007. BendixR., and F. W.Howton. “Social Mobility and the American Business Elite—I.” The British Journal of Sociology8, no. 4 (1957): 357–369. BendixR., and F. W.Howton. “Social Mobility and the American Business Elite—(II).” The British Journal of Sociology9, no. 1 (1958): 1–14. PlamperJ. “The Russian Orthodox Episcopate, 1721–1917: A Prosopography.” Journal of Social History34, no. 1 (2000): 5–34. LigonG. S., D. J.Harris, and S. T.Hunter. “Quantifying Leader Lives: What Historiometric Approaches Can Tell Us.” The Leadership Quarterly23, no. 6 (2012): 1104–1133. BroadyD. “French Prosopography: Definition and Suggested Readings.” Poetics30, no. 5–6 (2002): 381–385. BradleyJ., and H.Short. “Texts into Databases: The Evolving Field of New-style Prosopography.” Literary and Linguistic Computing20 suppl. (2005): 3–24. Keats-RohanK. S. B. “Biography, Identity and Names: Understanding the Pursuit of the Individual in Prosopography.” In Prosopography Approaches and Application: A Handbook. vol. 13, edited by K. S. B.Keats-Rohan, 139–181. Hockley: Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, The University of Oxford, 2007. ShapinS., and A.Thackray. “Prosopography as a Research Tool in History of Science: The British Scientific Community 1700–1900.” History of Science12, no. 7 (1974): 1–28. MacLeodC., and A.Nuvolari. “The Pitfalls of Prosopography: Inventors in the Dictionary of National Biography.” Technology and Culture47, no. 4 (2006): 757–776. BulstN. “Prosopography and the Computer: Problems and Possibilities.” In History and Computing II, edited by P.Denley, S.Fogelvik, and C.Harvey, 12–18. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. CohenG. “Missing, Biased and Unrepresentative. The Quantitative Analysis of Multisource Biographical Data.” Historical Methods35, no. 4 (2002): 166–176. FellmanS.Uppkomsten av en Direktörsprofession: Industriledarnas Utbildning och Karriär i Finland 1900–1975. Bidrag till Kännedom av Finlands Natur och Folk 155. Helsinki: Finska Vetenskaps-Societen, 2000. San RománE., P.Fernández Pérez, and Á.Gil López. “As Old as History: Family-controlled Business Groups in Transport Services: The Case of SEUR.” Business History (January 2014):, 10.1080/00076791.2013.851523. GinalskiS. “Can Families Resist Managerial and Financial Revolutions? Swiss Family Firms in the Twentieth Century.” Business History55, no. 6 (2013): 981–1000. BartonA. H. “Determinants of Economic Attitudes in the American Business Elite.” American Journal of Sociology91, no. 1 (1985): 54–87. ContiJ. A., and M.O'Neil. “Studying Power: Qualitative Methods and the Global Elite.” Qualitative Research7, no. 1 (2007): 63–82. MastekaasaA. “Social Origins and Recruitment to Norwegian Business and Public Sector Elites.” European Sociological Review20, no. 3 (2004): 221–235. MacleanM. “Corporate Governance in France and the UK: Long-term Perspectives on Contemporary Institutional Arrangements.” Business History41, no. 1 (1999): 88–116. KadushinC. “Friendship among the French Financial Elite.” American Sociological Review60, no. 2 (1995): 202–221. Additional information
Notes on contributors
Juha Kansikas
Juha Kansikas is a senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at the Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics, Jyväskylä University, where he completed a doctoral degree in 2004. In 2012, he was a visiting associate professor at the John Molson Business School, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. His research interests include elite business careers, entrepreneurship and family business.