Business leaders have a huge influence on society, as their thinking and acting shapes the way the economy is run. This book portrays economic elites in a range of Central and Eastern European countries. It outlines the social origin of elites, their career paths, who exerts the greatest influence over them, which networks are important for them, and how they influence society.

Katharina Bluhm is a Professor of Sociology at the Free University Berlin, Germany

Bernd Martens is a Senior Researcher in the Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany

Vera Trappman is a Junior Professor of Macro Sociology at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany

1. Introduction: Business Leaders and the New Varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Europe 2. Institutional Transformation and Business Leaders of the New Foreign-Led Capitalism in Poland 3. The 'Small Transformation' in Hungary: Institutional Changes and Economic Actors 4. The Long Shadow of the 'German Model': Business Leaders in Social and Institutional Change 5. From 'Deputy Revolution' to Markets for Executives? Social Origin, Careers and Generational Change of Business Leaders Twenty Years after Regime Change 6. Contractual Trust: The Long Shadow of the Shadow Economy 7. Varying Concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility: Beliefs and Practices in Central Europe 8. Institutions or Attitudes? The Role of Formal Worker-Representation in Labour Relations 9.Income and Influence: Hungarian, Polish and German Business Leaders Compared