Corporate Capitalism in the Era of Financialization and Intangible Capital

A groundbreaking investigation into the transformation of corporate capitalism under conditions of financialization and the rising centrality of intangible capital.

This book challenges conventional distinctions between financial and non-financial activity by tracing the historical reorganization of corporate capital, its balance-sheet structures, and valuation tools. The book shows how the growing role of liquidity and intangibles has undermined long-standing valuation anchors, reshaping accumulation, valuation practices, and corporate power. By reinterpreting Marxian value theory from a critical political economy perspective, it reconnects debates on value with changes in accounting conventions, financial practices, and the evolving forms of corporate capital from the late nineteenth century to the present.

ISBN: 9798903932016

Publication date: August 20, 2027

Foreword
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables

Introduction: on Financialization, Intangible Capital, and the Liquid Corporation

1 The Evolution of Joint Stock Companies and the Value Problem (1850–1920)
1 Introduction
2 The Evolution of the JSC and Abstract Capital
3 The Birth of Professional Accounting
4 Theories of Value and Asset Accounting Debates (1850–1930): Accountants at Work
5 Conclusion: the Notion of Fundamental Value

2 Value and the Giant Corporation up to the 1980s
1 Introduction
2 The Formation of the Post-War Giant Corporation
3 Valuation and the Rise of Corporate Accounting
4 Conclusion

3 What Changed in the 1980s: the Rise of Liquidity and Its Antecedents
1 Introduction
2 Historical Turning Points: Pathways to ‘Liquidification’
3 The Making of the Calculative Agenda of Capital: Ongoing Crisis of Capital, Risk and Liquid Fundamental Value
4 The Rise of Liquidity and Financial Accounting
5 The Rise of Liquidity and Financial Accumulation: the Logic of Institutional Investing
6 Conclusion: New Dynamics for the Organization of Capital

4 Giants Corporations in a Fluid World: a General Story of Dissociation
1 Introduction
2 The Rise of a New Phenomenon: the Financialized Corporation
3 The Ongoing Crisis: Value Dynamics through Financialized Corporation
4 Conclusion

5 The New Frontiers of Corporate Capital
1 Introduction
2 New Ways: Shifting Bases
3 The Invention of New Models and the Liquid Vision of Capital: an Inside Story
4 Valuation of Capital: a Case of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Facebook and Intrinsic Value
5 Conclusion: Interpretations of Capital and Liquidity

6 Capital and Value in the Era of Intangible Capital
1 Introduction
2 The Core Propositions of Prevalent Capital and Value Theories
3 Financialized Value in the Light of Intangible Capital
4 The Challenges of Value
5 The Notion of Abstract Capital and Liquidity: an Attempt

7 Conclusion
1 The Brief Historical Tour of Capital in the Study
2 The Contribution of the Book and Beyond
References
Index