<ARTICLES>Economic Sociology and the Theory of the Firm: Lessons from the "Toyota Momentum" in the History of Capitalism

Abstract

After five decades of numerous and meticulous research studies on Toyota Motor Corporation and its production system, some of its most cherished secrets still remain hidden from economic and management literature. Whereas economic action, the firm, and the market are often thought to be the sole domain of economists or management scientists, this paper claims that a critical stance of economic sociology can unveil some unseen aspects of economic life. As a result of a ten-year in-depth study of Toyota and the Japanese automotive industry, this paper presents and discusses a research agenda rooted in economic sociology on the peculiarities of this firm. At the core of this agenda lies a central assumption regarding the place and role of the firm in contemporary capitalism: One needs to rethink and draw the boundary lines between the firm as the sphere of production on the one hand, and the corporation as the process of capital accumulation on the other. By doing so, some other important concepts such as supply chains or inter-firm relationships, that are taken for granted and remain unquestioned in economic literature, are here coupled with new notions, sociotechnical fields and inter-corporation relationships. In the current era of financialization of corporate governance and "regionalization" of industries, this reconceptualization helps to tackle from new perspectives crucial issues such as employment relationships, public policies, firms' strategies, and shareholder value.