Competition and Cooperation: the role of banks

Abstract

In the preceding chapters we considered whether, at the international level, there exists an integrated network of interlocking directorates, and we found that for the largest Western firms this is, indeed, the case. This network, however, seems to suggest a system of communication rather than a system of domination, one in which New York banks and Dutch multinationals play a significant role in cementing the national subnetworks into an international whole. Although these findings do not corroborate the predicted structure of the network derived from the theory of Bucharin, there is still a possibility that they concur with the expected structure derived from the Bucharinist-inspired theory developed by Rowthorn. According to him the (few) international interlocks are predominantly carried by American, British and Dutch multinationals (see Section 3.2).