The data is collected by including all major active Taiwanese firms in pre-war colonial period, and all listed companies in post-war period for totally eight time points since 1941 to 2003 (i.e., 1941, 1962, 1969, 1982, 1988, 1992, 1998, and 2003). Data from 1941 is based on the Taiwanese Company Yearbook published by the Taiwan Economic Research Association. The Yearbook includes the major 168 companies that were active in Taiwan during 1941 when the Taiwan was still under the rule of Japanese colonial government. The list encompasses firms with a head office in Taiwan but also those headquartered in Japan. Data from the post WWII era includes all listed companies in Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TSEC). As the development of stock exchange market in Taiwan was limited in the early period, the numbers of our sample are very small, and the numbers only begin to conform to a comparable benchmarked sample since 1990s. Prior to the 1980s, data is collected from the Listed Company Directory published by the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation. For the years after 1980, private firm data is retrieved from the electronic database of listed companies compiled by the Taiwan Economic Journal. Data on state-owned listed companies for the same periods is also comprehensively covered, and was obtained through the Annual Report on State-owned Enterprise published by the Commission of National Corporations, a branch of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
For all years, statistics like the number of firms in the main component, the percentage of isolated firms, the average number of ties, and the percentage of multiple ties are calculated based on the entire network of firms and directors.
The data on big linkers and central firms, that are part of this project, are not part of this data package.
