HEIRS, CORPORATE ARISTOCRATS AND ‘MERITOCRATS’: THE SOCIAL SPACE OF INDIAN TOP INDIAN EMPLOYERS

Abstract

In this article, we present an analysis of the social space of the CEOs and chairmen of the 100
most important Indian companies (in 2012). We use a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA)
to understand internal divisions within the field of economic power by identifying fractures in
terms of instructional capital, inherited capital (family capital), social capital (using a network
analysis of links between executive committees of the 150 biggest companies) and cast. Our
results reveal that this economic field has a very specific structure: credentialism has a weak
influence; a clear and strong division exists between capital owners and capital managers;
social capital plays a key role and actors close to the State are marginal. We find three poles
between chairmen: familial capitalists with a plurality of situations, unique position familial
capitalists, and the managerial galaxy.