In the early twentieth century, a dense corporate network was created among the large German corporations ("Germany Inc.").
About 16% of the members of the post WWI network of German Corporations had a Jewish background. About 25% were Jewish at the center of the network. The percentage of Jews in the general population was less than 1% in 1914.
What comparative advantages did the Jewish minority enjoy that enabled them to succeed in the competition for leading positions in the German economy?
Three hypotheses are tested:
1 The Jewish economic elite had a better education compared to the non-Jewish members of the network (human capital).
2 Jewish members had a central position in the corporate network, because many of them were engaged in finance and banking.
3 Jewish members created a network of their own that was separate from the overarching corporate network (social capital). The density of this Jewish network was higher than that of the non-Jewish economic elite (embeddedness).
Our data do not support any of these hypotheses. The observed correlation between Jewish background and economic success cannot be explained by a higher level of education, a higher level of social capital, or a higher proportion of Jewish managers engaged in (private) banking.
https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/f...S577June10.pdf