East German economic elites and their companies two decades after the transformation ('Wende'): Still following the patterns of the 1990s

Surveys among entrepreneurs and managing directors of companies with 50 to 1,000 employees are used to describe features of managerial elites in East Germany. The paper looks at four dimensions: (1) the reproduction of economic elites during the transformation period and its current consequences; (2) the development of “family capitalism” and processes of social closure; (3) qualification patterns of management; and (4) different attitudes of East and West German elites. Managers who were socialised in state socialist combines are still a large proportion of East German economic elites. Owing to their age distribution, changes in top management will be probable, and their effects on enterprises and social relations are discussed in the paper.