Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)

Felix Bühlmann; Caroline Ahler Christesen; Bruno Cousin; François Denord; Christoph Houman Ellersgaard; Paul Lagneau‐Ymonet; Anton Grau Larsen; Mike Savage; Sylvain Thine; Kevin Young; Pedro Araujo; Paola Arrigoni; Jorge Atria; Pierre Benz; Johanna Behr; Maria do Carmo Botelho; Asif Butt; Pedro Casanova; Luís Clemente‐Casinhas; Ana Castellani; Fabio Cescon; Joselle Dagnes; Hanna Debska; Anne‐Sophie Delval; Vitalina Dragun; Andreia Egas; Kajsa Emilsson; Xiaoguang Fan; Fan Fu; Julia Gentile; Orlando Gomes; Victoria Gronwald; Mariana Heredia; Johannes Hjellbrekke; Jorge Honório; Jie Huang; Johnathan Inkley; Håkan Johansson; Ilkka Koiranen; Aki Koivula; Hanna Kuusela; Gabriel Levita; Chao Ling; Peng Lu; Michael Lukas; Jacob Lunding; Mina Mahmoudzadeh; Sean McQuade; María Luisa Méndez; Nuno Nunes; Shay O'Brien; Gabriel Otero; Marta Pagnini; Alejandro Pelfini; Jéssica Pereira; Catalina Roa; Thierry Rossier; Marte Lund Saga; Dulce Santana; Christian Schneickert; Elisabeth Schimpfössl; François Schoenberger; Izaura Solipa; Łukasz Trembaczowski; Maren Toft; Sofia Vale; Pedro Vasconcelos; Jorge Quesada Velazco; Tomasz Warczok; Xinguo Yu

doi:10.1111/1468-4446.13203

Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)

Felix Bühlmann, Caroline Ahler Christesen, Bruno Cousin, François Denord, Christoph Houman Ellersgaard, Paul Lagneau‐Ymonet, Anton Grau Larsen, Mike Savage, Sylvain Thine, Kevin Young, Pedro Araujo, Paola Arrigoni, Jorge Atria, Pierre Benz, Johanna Behr, Maria do Carmo Botelho, Asif Butt, Pedro Casanova, Luís Clemente‐Casinhas, Ana CastellaniFabio Cescon, Joselle Dagnes, Hanna Debska, Anne‐Sophie Delval, Vitalina Dragun, Andreia Egas, Kajsa Emilsson, Xiaoguang Fan, Fan Fu, Julia Gentile, Orlando Gomes, Victoria Gronwald, Mariana Heredia, Johannes Hjellbrekke, Jorge Honório, Jie Huang, Johnathan Inkley, Håkan Johansson, Ilkka Koiranen, Aki Koivula, Hanna Kuusela, Gabriel Levita, Chao Ling, Peng Lu, Michael Lukas, Jacob Lunding, Mina Mahmoudzadeh, Sean McQuade, María Luisa Méndez, Nuno Nunes, Shay O'Brien, Gabriel Otero, Marta Pagnini, Alejandro Pelfini, Jéssica Pereira, Catalina Roa, Thierry Rossier, Marte Lund Saga, Dulce Santana, Christian Schneickert, Elisabeth Schimpfössl, François Schoenberger, Izaura Solipa, Łukasz Trembaczowski, Maren Toft, Sofia Vale, Pedro Vasconcelos, Jorge Quesada Velazco, Tomasz Warczok, Xinguo Yu

Society and Politics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The strategies, decisions and beliefs of those who occupy prominent positions of economic power have influence on very large corporations and the markets they dominate, on vast amounts of economic resources, and on the rules of the game. However, the sociology of elites faces a dual challenge: divergent conceptualisations of what can be considered as a position of economic power and internationally incompatible sources of information hinder comparative analysis. The World Elite Database (WED) addresses this dual challenge, by generating, based on a consistent definition, standardised data for 16 countries. This research note introduces WED, its construction principles, and presents preliminary findings on how economic elites differ across countries.

Original language	English
Journal	British Journal of Sociology
Early online date	27 Mar 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13203
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 27 Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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British Journal of Sociology - 2025 - Bühlmann - Varieties of Economic Elites Preliminary Results From the World Elite
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 2.19 MBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

Bühlmann, F., Christesen, C. A., Cousin, B., Denord, F., Ellersgaard, C. H., Lagneau‐Ymonet, P., Larsen, A. G., Savage, M., Thine, S., Young, K., Araujo, P., Arrigoni, P., Atria, J., Benz, P., Behr, J., Botelho, M. D. C., Butt, A., Casanova, P., Clemente‐Casinhas, L., ... Yu, X. (2025). Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED). British Journal of Sociology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13203

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title = "Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)",

abstract = "The strategies, decisions and beliefs of those who occupy prominent positions of economic power have influence on very large corporations and the markets they dominate, on vast amounts of economic resources, and on the rules of the game. However, the sociology of elites faces a dual challenge: divergent conceptualisations of what can be considered as a position of economic power and internationally incompatible sources of information hinder comparative analysis. The World Elite Database (WED) addresses this dual challenge, by generating, based on a consistent definition, standardised data for 16 countries. This research note introduces WED, its construction principles, and presents preliminary findings on how economic elites differ across countries.",

author = "Felix B{\"u}hlmann and Christesen, {Caroline Ahler} and Bruno Cousin and Fran{\c c}ois Denord and Ellersgaard, {Christoph Houman} and Paul Lagneau‐Ymonet and Larsen, {Anton Grau} and Mike Savage and Sylvain Thine and Kevin Young and Pedro Araujo and Paola Arrigoni and Jorge Atria and Pierre Benz and Johanna Behr and Botelho, {Maria do Carmo} and Asif Butt and Pedro Casanova and Lu{\'i}s Clemente‐Casinhas and Ana Castellani and Fabio Cescon and Joselle Dagnes and Hanna Debska and Anne‐Sophie Delval and Vitalina Dragun and Andreia Egas and Kajsa Emilsson and Xiaoguang Fan and Fan Fu and Julia Gentile and Orlando Gomes and Victoria Gronwald and Mariana Heredia and Johannes Hjellbrekke and Jorge Hon{\'o}rio and Jie Huang and Johnathan Inkley and H{\aa}kan Johansson and Ilkka Koiranen and Aki Koivula and Hanna Kuusela and Gabriel Levita and Chao Ling and Peng Lu and Michael Lukas and Jacob Lunding and Mina Mahmoudzadeh and Sean McQuade and M{\'e}ndez, {Mar{\'i}a Luisa} and Nuno Nunes and Shay O'Brien and Gabriel Otero and Marta Pagnini and Alejandro Pelfini and J{\'e}ssica Pereira and Catalina Roa and Thierry Rossier and Saga, {Marte Lund} and Dulce Santana and Christian Schneickert and Elisabeth Schimpf{\"o}ssl and Fran{\c c}ois Schoenberger and Izaura Solipa and {\L}ukasz Trembaczowski and Maren Toft and Sofia Vale and Pedro Vasconcelos and Velazco, {Jorge Quesada} and Tomasz Warczok and Xinguo Yu",

note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.",

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Bühlmann, F, Christesen, CA, Cousin, B, Denord, F, Ellersgaard, CH, Lagneau‐Ymonet, P, Larsen, AG, Savage, M, Thine, S, Young, K, Araujo, P, Arrigoni, P, Atria, J, Benz, P, Behr, J, Botelho, MDC, Butt, A, Casanova, P, Clemente‐Casinhas, L, Castellani, A, Cescon, F, Dagnes, J, Debska, H, Delval, AS, Dragun, V, Egas, A, Emilsson, K, Fan, X, Fu, F, Gentile, J, Gomes, O, Gronwald, V, Heredia, M, Hjellbrekke, J, Honório, J, Huang, J, Inkley, J, Johansson, H, Koiranen, I, Koivula, A, Kuusela, H, Levita, G, Ling, C, Lu, P, Lukas, M, Lunding, J, Mahmoudzadeh, M, McQuade, S, Méndez, ML, Nunes, N, O'Brien, S, Otero, G, Pagnini, M, Pelfini, A, Pereira, J, Roa, C, Rossier, T, Saga, ML, Santana, D, Schneickert, C, Schimpfössl, E, Schoenberger, F, Solipa, I, Trembaczowski, Ł, Toft, M, Vale, S, Vasconcelos, P, Velazco, JQ, Warczok, T & Yu, X 2025, 'Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)', British Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13203

TY - JOUR

T1 - Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)

AU - Bühlmann, Felix

AU - Christesen, Caroline Ahler

AU - Cousin, Bruno

AU - Denord, François

AU - Ellersgaard, Christoph Houman

AU - Lagneau‐Ymonet, Paul

AU - Larsen, Anton Grau

AU - Savage, Mike

AU - Thine, Sylvain

AU - Young, Kevin

AU - Araujo, Pedro

AU - Arrigoni, Paola

AU - Atria, Jorge

AU - Benz, Pierre

AU - Behr, Johanna

AU - Botelho, Maria do Carmo

AU - Butt, Asif

AU - Casanova, Pedro

AU - Clemente‐Casinhas, Luís

AU - Castellani, Ana

AU - Cescon, Fabio

AU - Dagnes, Joselle

AU - Debska, Hanna

AU - Delval, Anne‐Sophie

AU - Dragun, Vitalina

AU - Egas, Andreia

AU - Emilsson, Kajsa

AU - Fan, Xiaoguang

AU - Fu, Fan

AU - Gentile, Julia

AU - Gomes, Orlando

AU - Gronwald, Victoria

AU - Heredia, Mariana

AU - Hjellbrekke, Johannes

AU - Honório, Jorge

AU - Huang, Jie

AU - Inkley, Johnathan

AU - Johansson, Håkan

AU - Koiranen, Ilkka

AU - Koivula, Aki

AU - Kuusela, Hanna

AU - Levita, Gabriel

AU - Ling, Chao

AU - Lu, Peng

AU - Lukas, Michael

AU - Lunding, Jacob

AU - Mahmoudzadeh, Mina

AU - McQuade, Sean

AU - Méndez, María Luisa

AU - Nunes, Nuno

AU - O'Brien, Shay

AU - Otero, Gabriel

AU - Pagnini, Marta

AU - Pelfini, Alejandro

AU - Pereira, Jéssica

AU - Roa, Catalina

AU - Rossier, Thierry

AU - Saga, Marte Lund

AU - Santana, Dulce

AU - Schneickert, Christian

AU - Schimpfössl, Elisabeth

AU - Schoenberger, François

AU - Solipa, Izaura

AU - Trembaczowski, Łukasz

AU - Toft, Maren

AU - Vale, Sofia

AU - Vasconcelos, Pedro

AU - Velazco, Jorge Quesada

AU - Warczok, Tomasz

AU - Yu, Xinguo

N1 - Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). The British Journal of Sociology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of London School of Economics and Political Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PY - 2025/3/27

Y1 - 2025/3/27

N2 - The strategies, decisions and beliefs of those who occupy prominent positions of economic power have influence on very large corporations and the markets they dominate, on vast amounts of economic resources, and on the rules of the game. However, the sociology of elites faces a dual challenge: divergent conceptualisations of what can be considered as a position of economic power and internationally incompatible sources of information hinder comparative analysis. The World Elite Database (WED) addresses this dual challenge, by generating, based on a consistent definition, standardised data for 16 countries. This research note introduces WED, its construction principles, and presents preliminary findings on how economic elites differ across countries.

AB - The strategies, decisions and beliefs of those who occupy prominent positions of economic power have influence on very large corporations and the markets they dominate, on vast amounts of economic resources, and on the rules of the game. However, the sociology of elites faces a dual challenge: divergent conceptualisations of what can be considered as a position of economic power and internationally incompatible sources of information hinder comparative analysis. The World Elite Database (WED) addresses this dual challenge, by generating, based on a consistent definition, standardised data for 16 countries. This research note introduces WED, its construction principles, and presents preliminary findings on how economic elites differ across countries.

UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.13203

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105001719737&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1468-4446.13203

DO - 10.1111/1468-4446.13203

M3 - Article

SN - 0007-1315

JO - British Journal of Sociology

JF - British Journal of Sociology

ER -

Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)

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Bibliographical note

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