The Network of Global Corporate Control
Open accessAbstract
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.
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This 'superentity' of TNCs reveals not only the hegemonic position of financial capital today, but also the extent to which a relatively virtual form of capital is concentrated and centralized at the global level.
“this 'superentity' of TNCs reveals not only the hegemonic position of financial capital today, but also, the extent to which a relatively virtual form of capital is concentrated and centralized at the global level.”
From The Real World of the Decentralized Autonomous Society (2016) · cites this paper as Vitali et al. 2011
The Discussion describes a small, tightly connected core that holds a large share of global TNC control, calls its top holders a “super-entity,” and identifies financial intermediaries in the core. This supports the claim about concentrated global control, but the paper does not characterize that control as a “relatively virtual form of capital” or establish the broader claim of financial capital’s hegemony. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe researchers also found that nearly 4/10 of the control over the economic value of TNCs in the world is held, via a complicated web of ownership relations, by a group of 147 TNCs in the core, which has almost full control over itself.
“the researchers also found that 'nearly 4/10 of the control over the economic value of TNCs in the world is held, via a complicated web of ownership relations, by a group of 147 TNCs in the core, which has almost full control over itself' (Vitali et al. 2011, 6).”
From The Real World of the Decentralized Autonomous Society (2016) · cites this paper as Vitali et al. 2011
The Discussion says that a group of TNCs in the core holds a large share of control over TNC economic value through ownership relations and has almost full control over itself. In our copy, the numerical expressions are missing from that passage, so it does not verify the quoted figures of nearly 4/10 and 147 TNCs. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredRecent research by a group of systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology shows that there are 1318 core TNCs with interlocking directorships, making up 80 percent of global operating revenues.
“Recent research by a group of systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology shows that there are 1318 core TNCs with interlocking directorships, making up 80 percent of global operating revenues.”
From The Real World of the Decentralized Autonomous Society (2016) · cites this paper as Vitali et al. 2011
The Results (Network Topology, Figure 2 and Table 1) identify a core of 1,318 nodes, but only 295 are TNCs. The paper describes ownership links, not interlocking directorships, and reports that the core accounts for 18.68% of total TNC operating revenue—not 80%. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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Battiston, S., Puliga, M., Kaushik, R., Tasca, P., & Caldarelli, G. (2012) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep00541 · Cited by 919 · see citing works
Self-citationTransnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship
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The Real World of the Decentralized Autonomous Society
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- Authors
- Vitali, S., Glattfelder, J. B., & Battiston, S.
- Affiliations
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Battiston, Stefano
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2011-10-26
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- e25995
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3202517
- OpenAlex
- W2116075173
- Cited by
- 827
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 72 · 2021: 90 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 79 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 55 · 2012: 37
- FWCI
- 155.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Nova Science Publishers (Nova Science Publishers, Inc.) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Funders
- European Commission (255987)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Network Analysis Techniques
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Global Urban Networks and Dynamics
- Keywords
- multinational corporations, control network, financial institutions, global competition, financial stability, core network
- MeSH terms
- Commerce, Financial Management, Social Control Policies, Professional Corporations, Internationality
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