The Transformation of Corporate Control

412 Pages·1990·20.755 MB·English

by  Neil Fligstein

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The Transformation of
Corporate Control

The Transformation of
Corporate Control
Neil Fligstein
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
Copyright © 1990 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
I 9 & 7 © 5 4 3B 2
First Harvard University Press paperback edition, 1993
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Fligstein, Neil.
The transformation of corporate control / Neil Fligstein.
- cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-674-90358-7 (alk. paper) (cloth)
ISBN 0-674-90359-5 (pbk.)
1. Trade regulation—United States—History. 2. Antitrust law—
United States—History. 3. Big business—United States—History.
4. Consolidation and merger of corporations—United States—History.
a Tule:
HD3616.U46F57 1990 89-15586
338.6/048’0973—dc20 GIP
as
For Christine

Acknowledgments
First, I wish to acknowledge the work of Alfred Chandler. While
much of what I say is antithetical to his work, his penetrating
insights into the history of American business are the starting
point for any serious work on this topic. Those who are familiar
with his work will see its influence on mine.
Over time, I have benefited from the comments of a large
number of people. In particular, I would like to thank Doug
McAdam, John Meyer, Harrison White, and Mayer Zald, all of
whom read the manuscript in its entirety. Thomas McCraw read
the manuscript twice for Harvard University Press and gave
serious comments that have reshaped the manuscript and pushed
it toward its present form. I owe an extremely large debt to his
unrelenting criticism. The other anonymous readers of the manu-
script also provided invaluable help. I thank Gerhard Arminger,
Jim Baron, Paul DiMaggio, Ken Dauber, Roger Friedland, Stan
Lieberson, Jim Lincoln, Don Palmer, Charles Perrow, Jeff Pfeffer,
Woody Powell, and Dick Scott for useful comments along the
way. Michael Aronson, General Editor at the Press, has helped
with substantive comments and good advice on the overall struc-
ture of the book. Naomi Lamoreaux and Ralph Nelson graciously
gave me their data on the industries and firms involved 1n the turn
of the century merger movement.
The Department of Sociology at the University of Arizona has
proved a congenial location for my work. My colleagues have lis-
tened to me discuss this book, first at a faculty seminar in 1982
when I had just begun to write it, and later at an ongoing series of
lectures. The Department has also provided material support
without which I could not have completed this book. I have had
a number of research assistants and would like to thank Peter
Brantley, David Chang, Cam Counters, Beverly Lanzetta, Erin
Vill Acknowledgments
McBryde, and Sherry Sinclair for their help. Barb MacIntosh
helped type and retype the manuscript. A series of grants from the
Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute at the Univer-
sity of Arizona made it possible for me to travel to collections and
gather data.
Numerous libraries and archives aided my work tremendously.
At various times, librarians and archivists at the University of
Arizona Library (particularly in Government Documents), the
Library of Congress, the Baker Library at the Harvard Business
School, the National Archives, the Justice Department Library,
the Federal Trade Commission Library, and the National
Archives branch containing the Nixon Presidential Papers helped
in my search for primary documents.
I acknowledge the kind permission to use tabular material from
Michael Gort, Diversification and Integration in American
Industry, copyright © 1962 by National Bureau of Economic
Research, published by Princeton University Press; and excerpts
from Alfred Sloan, My Years with General Motors, copyright ©
1963 by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., reprinted by permission of Harold
Matson Co., Inc.
Finally, my thanks to Christine Breit Fligstein, who has never
known me when I was not finishing this book. Well, now it’s done.