‘Accountable creatures’: Scottish Presbyterianism,accountability and managerial capitalism

Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism remains a seminal text for social theory and economic and social history. Weber suggests a general relationship between religious belief and economic action. We argue that only by examining the practices of individuals and institutions can we adequately address Weber's question. Specifically, we re-examine the role of the confessional diary and Church governance practices as forms of accountability. Accountability practices were central to Scottish Presbyterian churches and made an important contribution to the development of managerial capitalism. This article is both a response to and a development of Sam McKinstry and Y.Y. Ding's micro-history of Charles Cowan and the business practices of his family's papermaking firm.     

Trapped in Informality: The Big Role of Small Firms in Russia’s Statist-patrimonial Capitalism

Manifestations of patrimonialism such as corruption and state predation on business are widespread in many emerging economies. This paper presents the case of Russian political economy, dubbed ‘statist-patrimonial capitalism’, which is marked by state threats to private property rights through bureaucratic extortion or legal harassment. How can we explain the resilience of Russia’s statist-patrimonial capitalism? Predominant accounts focus on the lack of institutional constraints on state predation. The paper offers a different perspective by exploring the often-overlooked contribution of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). First, statistical data show a steady rise of SMEs in the 2000s despite increasing state predation, suggesting that SMEs are not simply subjugated by the state. Second, in-depth interviews with Russian entrepreneurs reveal that business contributes to the maintenance of the statist-patrimonial system through the mechanism of the ‘informality trap’: firms that choose the informal strategy have difficulties to return to the legal sphere and get stuck in informality. The drivers of informality include firm-specific characteristics, institutional factors and socio-cultural factors dubbed ‘normality’. The mechanism of the ‘informality trap’ highlights the agency of firms in corrupt polities and may be applicable to other emerging economies.     

资本主义生产方式变迁中的资本主义制度演进——一个发展马克思经济学的新路径

过去理解资本主义制度演变时简单地采用生产力决定生产关系的原理,这给我们带来一个难以回答的问题,即什么样的生产力水平决定资本主义制度走向灭亡.其实,在马克思经济学理论中包含着一个对生产力决定生产关系原理的深入解释:生产力对生产关系的决定作用要通过生产方式这样一个中介,一方面体现为促进生产力的发展,另一方面孕育了生产关系的变革.在资本主义制度演进过程中,资本主义生产方式发展经历了三个阶段,这与资本主义制度演进的三个时期正相对应.这不仅表明用生产方式的演进可以解释资本主义制度变迁,而且也表明马克思经济学中包含着具有现实解释力的理论.