A Very Economic Elite: The Case of the Danish Top CEOs

Christoph Houman Ellersgaard; Anton Grau Larsen; Martin D. Munk

doi:10.1177/0038038512454349

A Very Economic Elite: The Case of the Danish Top CEOs

Christoph Houman Ellersgaard, Anton Grau Larsen, Martin D. Munk

Department of Sociology

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although the business elites in western societies have a very privileged social background in common, there are substantial differences in the reproduction mechanisms and social trajectories leading to a position within this elite group. These differences are explored by comparing the career paths of the top 100 CEOs in Britain, France, Germany and Denmark. In France and Britain, this reproduction is mediated through degrees from elite universities. In Germany, the principle of admission is the incorporated cultural capital acquired through an exclusive bourgeois origin combined with any university degree. Elite universities also hold little importance for Danish top CEOs, partly due to the institutions' historic decline; instead, reproduction is mediated through time spent in the economic field, placing the case of the Danish CEOs between that of their British and German counterparts. Specific trajectories of Danish executives, in particular sales people, are identified using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and cluster analysis.

Original language	English
Journal	Sociology
ISSN	0038-0385
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512454349
Publication status	Published - Dec 2013

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A Very Economic Elite: The Case of the Danish Top CEOs

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