European University Institute Library

The social construction of an industry, a world of chemical fibres, Patrick Kenis ; with a foreword by Philippe C. Schmitter

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [193]-201)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

The social construction of an industry

bibliography

26158542

Patrick Kenis ; with a foreword by Philippe C. Schmitter

Public policy and social welfare, v. 8Published EUI PhD theses

a world of chemical fibres

"The systematic study of collective action by business is an "enfant industry" in the scholarly enterprise. Compared to the thousands of volumes devoted to describing, explaining, and (often) extolling the action of trade unions, those devoted explicitly to trade and employer associations could barely fill a single library shelf. Compared to the heroics of worker demonstrations, strikes, and uprisings, the efforts of capitalists to defend their interests collectively are bound to appear prosaic. If fashion and emotion were not enough, theory has also conspired to discourage the study of cooperation and collusion among consenting capitalists. Liberals try to convince us that only the competitive interaction of individuals as producers/ consumers and citizens/voters leads to social choices and determines societal outcomes; Marxists assure us that capitalists do not need to act collectively, their dominance being assured "at the point of production" or "through the state". Nevertheless and without any specific protection or subsidization, an enfant industry of studying collective action by business has emerged and even begun to prosper during the past two decades. It has had to cut across the usual compartments of academic specialization and to develop its own concepts and assumptions. It has relied heavily on international comparative analysis among advanced industrial societies, which imposes a weighty burden on individual scholars or extracts high transaction costs from collaborative efforts. It is still a hazardous and difficult market to enter, especially for a graduate student attempting his first major piece of research."

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ix --LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Xiii --FOREWORD BY PHILIPPE C. SCHMITTER XV --PREFACE XVII --Part I: Studying the Economy as a Social System / Polity 1 --CHAPTER I: PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS 3 --1. Collective Actions of Producers in the Governance of the Economy 3 --1.1 Introduction 3 --1.2 Informal Collective Actions and Private Policy Networks 5 --1.3 A Comparative Study of the Chemical Fibre Sector 8 --2. Studying the Governance of the Economy 10 --2.1 Market and Power Ordering the Economy 11 --2.2 The Olsonian Approach to Collective Action 12 --2.3 Synthesis: Collective Action as Both Strategy and Action System 14 --3. A Grounded Theory for the Study of Collective Actions among Producers 15 --3.1 The Grounded-Theory Approach 15 --3.2 The Internalization of Contingencies through the Sectoral Level 17 --3.3 The Externalization of Contingencies through the Sectoral Level 19 --CHAPTER II: SECTORALIZATION OF THE ECONOMY - CONSTITUTING AN ACTION SYSTEM FOR COLLECTIVE ACTIONS 23 --1. Collective Action Encircled within a Product, Time, and Space Dimension 23 --2. The Relevance of the Time and Space Dimension 24 --3. The Relevance of the Sectoral Dimension 25 --3.1 The Case of the Chemical Fibre Sector 25 --3.2 Aspects of and Approaches to Sectoralization of the Economy 28 --3.3 Circumstances Leading to Sectoralization as a Basis for Informal Collective Action 32 --Part II: A Social Morphology of the Chemical Fibre Industry 37 --CHAPTER III: A MACRO VIEW: DEVELOPMENTS IN TIME AND SPACE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY 39 --1. Definition, Early History, and Worldwide Development of the Chemical Fibre Industry 39 --1.1 The Chemical Textile Fibres Industry 39 --1.2 Early History of the Chemical Fibre Industry 41 --1.3 The Worldwide Development of the Chemical Textile Fibres Industry since 1960 44 --1.4 Chemical Fibre Markets in Space 45 --2. A Comparison of Industry Structure in Britain, West Germany, and Italy 47 --2.1 The Sector 's Absolute and Relative Size 48 --2.2 The Degree of Concentration of the Sector 52 --2.3 The Degree of Closure of the Sector 56 --2.4 The Degree of Internal Integration/Differentiation of the Sector 64 --CHAPTER IV: A MICRO VIEW: THE ACTORS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY 75 --1. The Set of Core Actors 75 --2. Characteristics of the Individual Producers 77 --2.1 West Germany: "A World of Giants" 77 --2.2 Britain: "This Place Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us!" 83 --2.3 Italy: "The Sector in Their Web" 88 --CHAPTER V: A MESO VIEW: MOMENTS OF ORGANIZED ACTION IN THE CHEMICAL FIBRE INDUSTRY 97 --1. Forms of Internalizing Contingencies at the Sectoral Level by Chemical Fibre Producers in Britain, Italy, and West Germany 97 --1.1 Internalizing Contingencies through Vertical Integration 98 --1.2 Internalizing Contingencies through Publicity and Trademark Policies 105 --1.3 Internalizing Contingencies through Lobbying 110 --1.4 Internalizing Contingencies through Participation in Concerted Action 114 --2. Forms of Externalizing Contingencies at the Sectoral Level by Chemical Fibre Producers in West Germany, Italy, and Britain 137 --2.1 Externalizing Inside Competition 137 --2.2 Externalizing Outside Competition 145 --2.3 Externalizing Labour 150 --2.4 Externalizing Overcapacity (through Exports) 152 --Part III: Explanations of and Conclusions from Private Policy Networks 155 --CHAPTER VI: PRIVATE POLICY NETWORKS OF FIRMS IN CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 157 --1. The Significance of Private Policy Networks 157 --2. The Structure of the Sectoral Action System 163 --2.1 Collective Actions for Large Firms 164 --2.2 From Mutual Observation to Sectoral Action Systems for Informal Collective Actions 165 --3. Preconditions for Policy Networks 168 --3.1 General Country Variables Enabling (or Disabling) Policy Networks 168 --3.2 General Sector Variables Enabling (or Disabling) Policy Networks 173 --3.3 Structural and Situational Factors Shaping Policy Networks 175 --4. Conclusions 180 --4.1 Private Policy Networks' Dependence on the State 180 --4.2 National Policy Networks in an International Perspective 183 --APPENDIX I: JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES CONSULTED 187 --APPENDIX II: DESCRIPTION OF THE SECTOR'S PRODUCT: CHEMICAL FIBRES 189 --REFERENCES 193 --References Specific to the Chemical Fibre Industry 193 --General References 195