CorpNet
CorpNet is a research group at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam.
CorpNet is uncovering, investigating and aimimg to understand global networks of corporate control in contemporary global capitalism. The 5-year project started in Sept.2015, and is funded by the European Research Council (ERC starting grant).ref
CorpNet's OFC Meter identifies OFCs, using network analysis. Their data covers over 77m ownership relations, which together form a large network in which value flows from subsidiaries to shareholders. From it they extract millions of global corporate ownership chains. At the heart of the network stands the Netherlands, with the UK jostling for 1st position. link
CorpNet asks "Who is in charge of international business?" Business is strongly intertwined worldwide. Corporations share managers and directors, and they even own each other’s firms. The CorpNet's team of social and computer scientists map this network of tens of millions of companies in the world. By doing so, we can find out and analyse how international elites got their economical power and influence, and how they keep it.
Research and Publications
- Feb.19.2019: The New Permanent Universal Owners: Index Funds, (Im)patient Capital, and the Claim of Long-termism. Fundamental change is happening in asset management – the shift from actively managed funds to index funds. This money mass migration into index funds has far-reaching consequences, because it leads to a concentration of corporate ownership in the hands of the ‘Big Three’ asset managers. We call BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street the ‘New Permanent Universal Owners’ as they are invested indefinitely in thousands of member firms of stock indexes. Article/Overview. Jan Fichtner, Eelke M Heemskerk, CorpNet. (Tag: Private Equity)
- Sept.04.2018: Who holds the most power in international politics? The state or corporations? This report argues that, after decades of globalisation, state power is back in charge. However, multinationals wield phenomenal power; they sell their products all over the world, they have huge supply chains and arguably mould politics to their own interests. Milan Babic is one of the co-authors of that report and he says that ‘international relations has become a giant 3-dimensional chess game, with states and corporations as intertwined actors’. Radio Interview. Milan Babic, CorpNet. (Tag: Corporate Capture)
- Jul.16.2018: Who is more powerful – states or corporations? Most people would probably say it’s the largest states. Yet multinationals like Apple and Starbucks still wield phenomenal power. They oversee huge supply chains, sell products all over the world, and help mould international politics to their interests. In some respects, multinationals have governments at their beck and call – witness their consistent success at dodging tax payments. So when it comes to international politics, are states really calling the shots? Article published on The Conversation. Oumaima Majiti, CorpNet. (Tag: Corporate Capture)
- Jul.24.2017: Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network. Multinational corporations use highly complex structures of parents and subsidiaries to organize their operations and ownership. Offshore Financial Centers facilitate these structures through low taxation and lenient regulation, but are increasingly under scrutiny, eg. for enabling tax avoidance. The identification of OFC jurisdictions has become a politicized and contested issue. We introduce a novel data-driven approach for identifying OFCs based on the global corporate ownership network. Article published on The Conversation. Javier Garcia-Bernardo, Jan Fichtner, Frank W Takes, Eelke M Heemskerk, Nature. (Tag: Tax Havens)
