Family capitalism within big business

Scandinavian Economic History Review

Volumn 54, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 161-186

  Sjögren, Hans ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Chandlerism; Corporate governance; Family business; Large industries; Network theory; The Wallenberg family

Indexed keywords

CAPITALISM; CORPORATE STRATEGY; FIRM OWNERSHIP; MANAGEMENT; MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISE;

EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN EUROPE; SCANDINAVIA; SWEDEN;

EID: 33845526397     PISSN: 03585522     EISSN: 17502837     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03585520600763977     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Many thanks to Rolf H. Carlsson, Peter Hagström, Göran B. Nilsson and Håkan Lindgren for valuable comments. Information not directly referred to derives from Sjö gren, H., Den uthålliga kapitalismen. Bolagsstyrningen i Astra, Stora Kopparberg och Svenska Tä ndsticksaktiebolaget. Stockholm: SNS forlag 2005. Archival prime sources are presented in the Appendix.
2. Chandler, Jr., A. D. and Deams, H., Managerial Hierarchies. Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press 1980, 13-14.
3. Berle, A. & Means, G., The Modern Corporation and Private Property, New York: Macmillan
4. Herman, E. S., Corporate Control, Corporate Power, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1981.
5. Colli, A., The History of Family Business. New Studies in Economic and Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2003, 9.
6. Results from research projects referred to in Colli, The History of Family Business, 16.
7. Hannah, L., Visible and Invisible Hands in Great Britain, in: Chandler, A. D. Jr. and Deams, H. (Eds.), Managerial Hierarchies 1980. See also Rose, M., (Ed.), Family Business. Aldershot: Elgar 1995.
8. Glete, J., Nä tverk i nä ringslivet. Ä gande och industriell omvandling i det mogna industrisamhället 1920-1990. Stockholm: SNS förlag 1993
9. Ullenhag, K. (Ed.), Nordic Business in the Long view. On Control and Strategy in Structural Change. London: Frank Cass & Co 1993. Glete's work provides a good overview of Swedish ownership families and their spheres during the 20th century and poses a number of interesting questions concerning the forces driving industrial transformation. Methodological problems, however, arose when an economic function-entrepreneurship-was mixed with two empirical concepts-family firms and management control.
10. Burch Jr., P., The Managerial Revolution Reassessed. Family control in America?s Large Corporations , Lexington: D. C. Heath & Co, ch. 5 and 68 for the data.
11. Donelly, R., The Family Business, Harvard Business Review , 42, 1964: 4, 93-105.
12. Sheehan, R., Proprietors in the World of Big Business, Fortune , 15 June 1967, 168-184.
13. Larner, R., Ownership and Control in the 200 Largest Non-financial Corporations, 1929 and 1963, American Economic Review, vol. 56, 1966:3, 777-787.
14. Shanker, M. & Astrachan, J., Myths and Realities: Family Business' Contribution to the US Economy - A Framework for Assessing Family Business Statistics, Family Business Review , vol. 9, 1996:2, 107-124. For more empirical results see Colli, The History of Family Business, 17-18.
15. The time limits of the expansionary period must be considered approximate. There is some disagreement among economic historians concerning when Sweden's "Golden Age" began and ended.
16. The members of the Wallenberg family held their positions in Astra, Bergslaget and STAB as representatives of a creditor and ownership interest. Jacob Wallenberg served as CEO of Stockholm's Enskilda Bank between 1927 and 1946, when his brother Marcus Wallenberg succeeded him. At that point, Jacob became vice-chairman of the Bank's board, rising to the chairmanship in 1950, a position he retained until 1969. Marcus Wallenberg followed in Jacob's footsteps, finally serving as board chairman between 1969 and 1976 (from 1972, of the newly merged Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken). In the holding company Investor, which for much of the time was the leading institutional owner in the three companies, Jacob Wallenberg was chairman between 1946 and 1978, with his brother Marcus as vice-chairman. Marcus then succeeded to chairmanship for the period from 1978 to 1982.
17. Aguilera, R. V. and Jackson, G., The Cross-National Diversity of Corporate Governance: Dimensions and Determinants, Academy of Management Review , vol. 28, 2003:3, 447-465.
18. See also Carlsson, R. H., Ownership and Value Creation. Strategic Corporate Governance in the New Economy. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons 2001, 175-215. The analytical literature on corporate governance contains two approaches. One is based on finance theory and emphasises shareholder value, whiles the other deals with all interested parties in a joint-stock company and emphasises stakeholder welfare.
19. Ä garmakt och omvandling , Ekonomirådets rapport. Stockholm: SNS förlag 2003, 32.
20. Fama, E. and Jensen, M., Separation of Ownership and Control, Journal of Law and Economics, vol. XXVI, June, 1983, 301-325
21. Fama, E. and Jensen, M., Organizational Forms and Investment Decisions, Journal of Financial Economics , vol. 14, 1985:1, 101-119.
22. Anderson, R. C. and Reeb, D. M., Board Composition: Family Influence in S&P 500 Firms, Administrative Science Quarterly, 49, 2004, 209-237.
23. Lindgren, H., Aktivt ägande. Investor under växlande konjunkutrer. Stockholm: Norstedts 1994, 3.
24. Although this article is focused on family capitalism in large corporations, it should be noted that long-term active ownership and networking capacity is not restricted to either families or large firms. Likewise, this type of owner appears in both local and international firms operating in all types of economic sectors.
25. Jensen, M., Eclipse of the Public Corporation, Harvard Business Review , 67, September-October, 1989, 61-74.
26. Schön, L., En svensk ekonomisk historia. Stockholm: SNS förlag 2000, 381-382.
27. Schön, En svensk ekonomisk historia, 405-406.
28. Svensk farmaci under 1900-talet , Band I. Stockholm: Apotekarsocieteten 1999, 439.
29. Interview with Sten Gustafsson, 23 March 2004.
30. Interview with Sten Gustafsson.
31. Interview with Sten Gustafsson and former Information director Sven Sundling, 15 March 2004.
32. Company minutes for April 22, 1975. Jacob Wallenberg's address to the shareholder meeting.
33. Interview with Bo Ehrner, 29 August 2003.
34. Interview with Lars-Erik Thunholm, 27 February 2002.
35. Head of the construction materials division of STAB.
36. The correspondence of Jacob and Marcus Wallenberg with CEOs in Astra, Bergslaget and STAB.
37. Reproduced statement in interview with Bo Berggren, 4 November 2002.
38. Marcus Wallenberg's Correspondence. Letter to Håkan Abenius, 9 March 1952.
39. Marcus Wallenberg's Correspondence. Letter to Håkan Abenius, 9 March 1952, 3.
40. Marcus Wallenberg's Correspondence. Letter from Håkan Abenius, 15 March 1952.
41. Nationalekonomiska föreningens handlingar. Minutes, 29 January 1954, 16 Minutes; 24 January 1957, 15-17.
42. Olsson, U., Bank, familj och företagande. Stockholms Enskilda Bank 1946-1971. Stockholm: Almqvist och Wiksell International 1986, 267-294.
43. Casson, M., Enterprise and Leadership. Studies on Firms, Markets and Networks, Cheltenham: Elgar 2000, 202.
44. Casson, Enterprise and Leadership, 203.