This article considers how international economic expansion impacts on the composition of elite groups on boards of companies. We examine, why, at the height of the British Empire, boards of national, imperial, and international railway companies, financed from London, were dominated by elites drawn differentially from the aristocracy, the military, finance, and politics. To investigate the reasons for these differences, we conduct a social network analysis of railway company boards in three countries during the second half of the nineteenth century. Results reveal that aristocratic directors were dominant in Britain, military directors in India, and financier directors in Argentina, suggesting that their influence drew on local knowledge, resource access, and network connections. They did not serve on boards for merely ornamental purposes.

中文翻译：

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精英主管，伦敦金融和英国的海外扩张：维多利亚时代的铁路网络，1860-1900年†

本文考虑了国际经济扩张如何影响公司董事会中精英群体的组成。我们研究一下，为什么在大英帝国鼎盛时期，由伦敦资助的国家，帝国和国际铁路公司的董事会被贵族，军事，金融和政治方面的精英阶层所支配。为了调查这些差异的原因，我们在19世纪下半叶对三个国家的铁路公司董事会进行了社交网络分析。结果表明，贵族董事在英国占主导地位，印度的军事主管在阿根廷，金融主管在阿根廷占主导地位，这表明他们的影响力在于本地知识，资源访问和网络连接。他们不只是为了装饰目的而在木板上任职。