Interfaces between private industrial enterprise and the state: a preliminary study of the case of representatives of business on the board of the Malta Development Corporation 1967-2001

Abstract

This essentially empirical study endeavours to provide a detailed map of the presence of businesspersons and representatives of industry on the board of the Malta Development Corporation in the thirty-seven years of its existence as a first step towards a systematic study of the interface between the state and private enterprise in Malta, and of the interplay of different business interests competing or joining forces to influence economic, industrial and trade policy. The MDC board is conceptualised as a networking space where – beyond formal and legally regulated mediation through committee deliberation – valuable links are established between members, which links increase their personal and corporate social capital, hence the use – albeit only tentative at this stage – of Social Network Analysis and Granovetterian linkages. This dissertation’s ‘unique selling proposition’ is that for the first time it makes available to researchers in the fields of historical, economic and political sociology, a systematic survey of the individuals concerned and the frequency of their appointments to the MDC board over the latter’s entire life. This material has been compiled from sources that are not easy to access in their entirety and are complemented with interviews with a number of surviving protagonists and knowledgeable informants.