Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED)
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.
Authors
- Fabio Cescon
- Orlando Gomes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7251-8736)
- Alejandro Pelfini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1242-5770)
- Peng Lü (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1195-1816)
- Christoph Ellersgaard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2512-1477)
- Xinguo Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1955-7760)
- Jorge Atria
- Julia Gentile (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1716-4170)
- François Schœnberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6021-6702)
- Jacob Aagaard Lunding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2776-9699)
- Mariana Heredia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1373-9966)
- François Denord
- Mike Savage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4563-9564)
- Aki Koivula (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8453-0863)
- Ling Chao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3548-0652)
- Gabriel Otero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9768-5699)
- Maria do Carmo Botelho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2161-4912)
- Elisabeth Schimpfössl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6168-7411)
- Håkan Johansson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1523-3088)
- Pierre Benz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1672-7311)
- Anton Grau Larsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4903-6437)
- Łukasz Trembaczowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8914-3811)
- Kajsa Emilsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1584-6522)
- Hanna Dębska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2541-1338)
- Maren Toft (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1415-3062)
- J. A. Behr
- Joselle Dagnes
- Xiaoguang Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1324-3138)
- Sofia Vale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1074-4711)
- Michael Lukas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5749-5073)
- Ilkka Koiranen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8520-5133)
- Nuno Nunes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0337-6145)
- Pedro Vasconcelos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1806-1843)
- Fan Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3647-4086)
- Jorge Silva Velazco
- David Filipe de Santana
- Johannes Hjellbrekke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8227-7270)
- Christian Schneickert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6005-2919)
- Ana Gabriela Castellani
- Tomasz Warczok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4488-3031)
- Sylvain Thine
- Kevin Young (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4960-1144)
- Thierry Rossier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3340-9091)
- Anne‐Sophie Delval (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0416-817X)
- Bruno Cousin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1992-4604)
- Hanna Kuusela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3845-8140)
- Gabriel Levita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4378-2076)
- Pietro Casanova
- Félix Bühlmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3189-0600)
- Jie Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4247-463X)
- Pedro Araújo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4474-8419)
- María Luisa Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3493-1511)
- Shay O’Brien (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8687-6377)
- Paul Lagneau‐Ymonet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1338-3744)
- Luís Clemente‐Casinhas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2809-4999)
- A.S. Butt
- Paola Arrigoni
- Victoria Gronwald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4162-1833)
- Caroline Ahler Christesen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0079-9336)
- Vitalina Dragun
- Andreia Egas
- Jorge Honório
- Johnathan Inkley
- Mina Mahmoudzadeh
- Sean McQuade
- Marta Pagnini
- Catalina Roa
- Marte Lund Saga
- Izaura Solipa
Institutions
- Roskilde University (DK)
- Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (PT)
- Universidad del Salvador (AR)
- Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CN)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Central University of Finance and Economics (CN)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- University of Turku (FI)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL)
- Universidad Nacional de Lanús (AR)
- Aston University (GB)
- Copenhagen Business School (DK)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Lund University (SE)
- University of St.Gallen (CH)
- National University of General San Martín (AR)
- Universidad de Buenos Aires (AR)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Harvard University Press (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Government of Jiangsu Province (CN)
- Centre d'études Européennes de Sciences Po (FR)
- FORS – Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (CH)
- Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Sede Argentina (AR)
- Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique (FR)
- Institute of Sociology (CN)
- Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique (FR)
- University Hospital Magdeburg (DE)
- Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences Sociales (FR)
- Centre universitaire de recherches sur l'Action Publique et le Politique Épistémologie & Sciences Sociales (FR)
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Université de Picardie Jules Verne (FR)
- University of Warsaw (PL)
- Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (FR)
- University of Turin (IT)
- Université Paris Dauphine-PSL (FR)
- University of Chile (CL)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- University of Silesia in Katowice (PL)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- École des hautes études en sciences sociales (FR)
- London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
- Universidad Diego Portales (CL)
- University of Bologna (IT)
- University of Jyväskylä (FI)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- British Journal of Sociology
- Published
- 2025-03-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13203
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 37.81
Funders
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- Leverhulme Trust
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Economic and Social Research Council