Persistent and stubborn. The state in the Italian capitalism: 1913-2001

This paper analyses the structure of the Italian corporate network from 1913 to 2001 by using the interlocking directorates technique. The paper focuses on seven benchmark years: 1913, 1927, 1936, 1960, 1972, 1983, and 2001. For each benchmark year, the top 250 companies (50 financials and 200 non financials) by total assets have been selected. For each benchmark year, after showing a descriptive statistics of the companies and the directors included in the sample, the paper develops a network connectivity analysis of the system. This is integrated by a historical and structural analysis. The paper reveals some distinct phases in the long term evolution of Italian capitalism, consequent on some major institutional break-ups (the crisis of the German-type universal banks and the creation of a large state-owned sector in the economy in the early 1930s; the nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1962; a massive privatisation of state-owned enterprises in the 1990s) and the emergence of the technological trajectory of the third industrial revolution in the 1970s. However, a trait featuring Italian capitalism throughout all these phases is the persistent presence of state-owned enterprises amongst the nation’s largest companies