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Corporatism is often seen as the way Swiss stakeholders in business and politics handle industrial challenges in a reasonable and flexible way. The following publication argues, however, that the emergence of corporatist structures in the Swiss watch industry has often encouraged rent-seeking and collusion at the expense of the creation of new mark...
Citations
... The knowledge and know-how acquired in the manufacturing, design and marketing of watches and their components, combined with the early exposure to global competition as well as the creation of a global network of business partners, prepared the groundwork for a diversified and competitive manufacturing industry in the canton [52]. ...
... Many of the successful SMEs in the canton started as suppliers of watch parts and measurement instruments for the large, local watch brands and manufacturers of movements that competed on an international scale. However, when the Swiss watch industry went through a profound crisis in the 1970s, many of these SMEs made use of their knowledge and know-how to serve other industries with precision tools, measurement instruments and high-quality intermediate products for the German car industry and other global hightech manufacturers [52]. In addition, the economic ecosystem shifted its set of industrial competences from watch manufacturing to medical technology with SMEs, such as Ypsomed, Mathys, and Synthes (now part of Johnson & Johnson), growing into global players in growth markets including those of bone implants and medical delivery systems [38]. ...
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim at harnessing economic complexity for sustainable and inclusive economic growth by calling for a decade of joint action. In this paper, we show how the action-oriented collaborative culture of complex and competitive economic ecosystems in places outside the major population centers may generate significant positive external effects for society and the environment at large. We illustrate this by means of two small case studies in Switzerland, a country with a federal system that enables decentralized economic development. The first case study investigates the economic ecosystem of the small town Monthey to show how productive migrants and embedded multinational companies increase the knowledge and know-how of local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The successful collaboration of insiders and outsiders accounts for the internal economic complexity that makes the region innovative and competitive. The second case study highlights the importance of the federalist system by showing how the canton of Solothurn succeeded in nurturing globally competitive export-oriented SMEs. We conclude that the success of these inclusive economic ecosystems in unexpected places may only be understood in the specific geographical, historical and political context, as well as the general openness of these regions toward entrepreneurial migrants and global business. The importance of local social capital makes it hard to replicate such success stories. Nevertheless, they indicate that the global knowledge economy may not just pose a threat, but also offer great opportunities for productive regions beyond the major global high-tech clusters of economic complexity.
... Dieser Typus einer "eingebetteten" Volkswirtschaft, verstanden als ein hoch reguliertes System, welches die lokale Wirtschaft gegen disruptive wirtschaftliche Kräfte, die durch Unternehmertum und Innovation getrieben sind, schützt (Aerni 2018), führt jedoch nicht zu inklusivem, sondern zu exklusivem Wachstum. Inländische und ausländische Akteure, die nicht über die politischen Verbindungen und das soziale Netzwerk verfügen wie die Platzhirsche, bleiben in einem solchen korporatistischen System, das durch Vetternwirtschaft geprägt ist, außen vor (Schluep/Aerni 2016). Unternehmerisch geprägte außenstehende Akteure sehen deshalb in der Globalisierung, die sich durch internationalen Handel und Arbeitsteilung auszeichnet, vor allem eine Chance, verkrustete Strukturen aufzubrechen, und Raum zu schaffen für die Wirtschaftsfreiheit (Aerni 2018). ...
Multinationale Unternehmen (MNU) sind exponiert. Regelmäßig sorgen sie für Schlagzeilen und werden zu Recht oder zu Unrecht für die Übel in dieser Welt – wie Kinderarbeit, Umweltverschmutzung, Verletzung der Menschenrechte – verantwortlich gemacht. Dabei wird von der Prämisse ausgegangen, dass Unternehmen nur auf den Profit für die Firma und dessen Besitzer (z. B. Aktionäre) aus sind, und dies auf Kosten der Umwelt und der Menschenrechte.
... They primarily aim at preserving the status quo by arguing in favour of protecting the 'embedded' national economy, understood as a highly regulated economic system that protects the local business against disruptive economic change driven by entrepreneurship and innovation. For outsiders, within and without the domestic economy, who do not benefit from the social network and the political connections of incumbents in the resulting corporatist system, such an 'embedded' economy is primarily characterized by nepotism (Schluep and Aerni 2016). It stifles their economic opportunities. ...
... However, as the landed gentry before them, many emerging large corporations may have used their enormous profits, originally generated through innovation, to merely imitate the lifestyle of the aristocrats through conspicuous consumption. Instead of investing in the future, they secured their rents by optimizing the management of their assets and by spending on political lobbying to ensure high barriers to market entry (Schluep and Aerni 2016). Moreover, even in the early stage, when they were innovators and therefore created considerable external social benefits, they may have also caused substantial external social costs, in the form of worker accidents and consumer health hazards, for which they were unwilling to be held liable or assume responsibility for the damage (Ice 1991). ...
This book examines the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on local economies, and presents selected case studies of MNEs operating in low income countries. By balancing external social and environmental costs against its corresponding benefits, the book demonstrates that MNEs can have a positive net-impact on local development if they build up social capital by embedding themselves in local economies and engaging responsibly with local stakeholders. By doing so MNEs contribute to inclusive growth, a cental pillar of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, the book challenges popular narratives in civil society and academia that frame foreign direct investment (FDI) merely as a threat to human rights and sustainable development. Moreover, it offers practical guidance for globally operating businesses seeking to establish progressive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of their own.
... All these new markets had to resolve Beckert's three primary coordina6on problems of embedded economies: the determina6on of the value of the new product, the securing of profit through an acceptable departure from perfect compe66on, and the ease of coopera6ng with other stakeholders on issues of common interest. Thanks to their ability to limit fraud and malfeasance in their prac6ce through effec6vely addressing the coordina6on problem of coopera6on, these new economic actors created the necessary social capital to gain a public license to operate in new and ohen untested fields of business (Cope et al. 2007, Aerni 2016. Their success in crea6ng and scaling new markets allowed many of these upstarts to eventually grow into global corpora6ons. ...
... However, as the landed gentry before them, many emerging large corpora6ons may have used their large profits, ini6ally generated through innova6on, to imitate the lavish lifestyle of the aristocrats and secure unproduc6ve rents through real estate investments and poli6cal lobbying to keep compe66on at bay (Schluep and Aerni 2016). Moreover, if their untested technological innova6ons caused accidents, they refused to be liable or assume responsibility for the damage (Ice 1991). ...
Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in enabling developing economies to embark on a path of inclusive growth. This applies in particular if local subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are committed to ‘principled embeddedness’ meaning that they are prepared to integrate parts of the local economy into global value chains by enabling them to comply with the required quality norms and standards. It also results in capacity development and technology transfer that is likely to benefit local entrepreneurs who contribute to the diversity of markets in the domestic economy. The empirically validated contribution of embedded subsidiaries of MNEs to inclusive growth challenge the normative view that FDI in developing economies would merely pose a threat to existing embedded economic systems.
... All these new markets had to resolve Beckert's three primary coordina6on problems of embedded economies: the determina6on of the value of the new product, the securing of profit through an acceptable departure from perfect compe66on, and the ease of coopera6ng with other stakeholders on issues of common interest. Thanks to their ability to limit fraud and malfeasance in their prac6ce through effec6vely addressing the coordina6on problem of coopera6on, these new economic actors created the necessary social capital to gain a public license to operate in new and ohen untested fields of business (Cope et al. 2007, Aerni 2016. Their success in crea6ng and scaling new markets allowed many of these upstarts to eventually grow into global corpora6ons. ...
... However, as the landed gentry before them, many emerging large corpora6ons may have used their large profits, ini6ally generated through innova6on, to imitate the lavish lifestyle of the aristocrats and secure unproduc6ve rents through real estate investments and poli6cal lobbying to keep compe66on at bay (Schluep and Aerni 2016). Moreover, if their untested technological innova6ons caused accidents, they refused to be liable or assume responsibility for the damage (Ice 1991). ...
