Abstract

Elites are a necessary part of economic activity. It therefore matters how elites are recruited and how they act. History is full of examples of elites that have acted well and also badly. Modern research has examined the training of elites, recruitment schemes and incentives for elites to discover how they can be used to promote, rather than impede, economic growth. The literature has also emphasized the effect of elite interconnection and elite recruitment on social mobility; it has shown that the standardization of elite education over the years may lead to uniformity and the creation of a transnational oligarchy.

Keywords: circulation of elites, class, corruption, cultural capital, economic growth, education, elites and economic outcomes, globalization, human capital, inequality, iron law of oligarchy, meritocracy, power elite, social capital, social mobility, symbolic capital, technical change