Table Of ContentCorporate Financialization
The economic process of financialization is defined by many as the development
of the dependence and subordination of the productive sector to the financial
sector. Leading to an emphasis on maximizing shareholder value above all else,
the financialization of the economy and production has an enormous impact
on the everyday life of ordinary people, including the erosion of employment
rights, the rise of precarious work, and rising inequalities.
Using multicase study research and an exploratory approach, this book
analyzes the financialization process in the ten companies with the highest
market capitalization worldwide including tech firms, oil companies, and
banks. This book analyzes indicators of financialization in large corporations
including a comparison between profitability sources; shareholding struc-
ture, acquisitions and sales of shares; mergers and acquisitions; the origins
of directors; payment of compensation to executives; dividend payments to
shareholders and stock repurchases; employee salaries; and employment levels.
The data demonstrate that what would once have been considered non-core
business activities have become more profitable than core business activities
in many of these companies. In some cases, these companies are responsible
for large investment funds and financial-type institutions, which already sur-
pass the largest banks in terms of assets under management. Meanwhile, the
average salaries at some of these companies have been falling in real terms due
to the rise of outsourcing and the use of cheap or precarious labor. Adopting
an economic sociology approach, this book marks a significant contribution
to the literature on financialization in economics, sociology, and business.
Marcelo José do Carmo has a PhD in Production Engineering from the
Federal University of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. He is now a Univer-
sity Lecturer at the Production Engineering Department at the Polytechnic
School of the University of São Paulo (USP).
Mário Sacomano Neto is currently an Associate Professor of Organiza-
tional Studies at the Federal University of São Carlos, UFSCar, Brazil. He has
experience in organizational studies, economic sociology, corporate control,
strategy, field theory, and financialization.
Julio Cesar Donadone is currently a Full Professor at the Federal University
of São Carlos, Brazil, and coordinator of the Center of Studies on Economic
Sociology and Finance NESEFI -UFSCar. He has experience in sociology,
especially in economic sociology, working mainly on the following topics:
intermediaries, financialization, and field dynamics.
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Corporate Financialization
An Economic Sociology Perspective
Marcelo José do Carmo, Mário Sacomano Neto and Julio Cesar Donadone
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Frontiers-of-Political-Economy/book-series/SE0345
Corporate Financialization
An Economic Sociology Perspective
Marcelo José do Carmo,
Mário Sacomano Neto and
Julio Cesar Donadone
TRANSLATION BY
JANE GODWIN COURY
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Marcelo José do Carmo, Mário Sacomano Neto, and
Julio Cesar Donadone
The right of Marcelo José do Carmo, Mário Sacomano Neto,
and Julio Cesar Donadone to be identified as authors of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Do Carmo, Marcelo José, 1973- author. | Sacomano Neto, Mário,
author. | Donadone, Julio Cesar, author.
Title: Corporate financialization : an economic sociology perspective /
Marcelo José do Carmo, Mário Sacomano Neto, Julio Cesar Donadone.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. |
Series: Routledge frontiers of political economy | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022047630 (print) | LCCN 2022047631 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032313955 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032313962 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003309536 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Corporations—Finance. | Financialization.
Classification: LCC HG4026 .D576 2023 (print) | LCC HG4026 (ebook) |
DDC 658.15—dc23/eng/20221128
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047630
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047631
ISBN: 9781032313955 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032313962 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003309536 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003309536
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables xi
About the Authors xv
Acknowledgments xvii
1 Introduction 1
2 Apple Inc. 22
3 Google 54
4 Microsoft Corporation 73
5 Amazon.com Inc. 90
6 Berkshire Hathaway 108
7 Facebook 124
8 Johnson & Johnson 140
9 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 155
10 Tencent Holdings 169
11 ExxonMobil 181
12 Conclusions 196
Appendix: Five years later 215
Index 219
Figures
2.1 Apple’s revenue in billions of US$ 24
2.2 Apple’s service revenue 26
2.3 Evolution of employment at Apple – 2005 to 2017 – in thousands 47
3.1 Google’s revenues 56
3.2 Evolution of employment at Google – 2007 to 2017 70
4.1 Evolution of employment at Microsoft – 2005 to 2018 88
5.1 Evolution of employment at Amazon – 2007 to 2017 105
7.1 Evolution of employment at Facebook – 2004 to 2017 138
8.1 Evolution of employment at Johnson & Johnson – 2007 to 2017 153
9.1 Evolution of employment at JPMorgan Chase – 2008 to 2017 167
10.1 Evolution of employment at Tencent Holdings – 2008 to 2017 179
11.1 Evolution of employment at ExxonMobil – 2001 to 2017 193
