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[Silver Night]

I would say that to a very real degree, the Megacorporations are the State. It's not that they have a particular interest in the State prospering, because that would mean that the State had some real existence beyond the corporations. With a couple of exceptions (most notably probably the CPD/Heth stuff), that isn't really the case. The Megas have an interest in [i[themselves[/i] prospering. the State is a medium for them to directly exert foreign policy control and offers a way for them to mediate among themselves.

More on-topic:

Quafe is certainly a megacorp in it's own right, Creodron, Roden, probably FedMart.

In terms of scale, any corporation that has even one spacestation probably qualifies as well beyond any modern conception of the kind of money and power a corporation can wield.

the difference with the State megacorps is they can wield political power much, much more directly. They don't need to lobby the State government - they each have their CEO on the CEP. They don't need to fight with the local or planetary government about regulations in places they own - they are the government (Unless they own land on a planet where another corporation owns land also. That could lead to the occasional court case.) Etc.

[Casiella]

I wish they did, I used to run a lot of missions for Eifyr. More agents would have been handy.

[Seriphyn]

Certain/likely Gallente megacorporations, referred to at some point as a megacorporation in PF somewhere (like FedMart intervention in Jin-Mei agriculture)...

- Quafe
- Impetus
- Roden Shipyards
- CreoDron
- Duvolle Laboratories
- FedMart

Less clear megas...

- Chemal Tech? Global scale, forefront of "EW technology a few years back"
- Poteque Pharmaceuticals? Perhaps one of those "transnational biotech corporation" types. Has leading share in cloning industry according to Cloning article.
- TransStellar Shipping? Largest shipping company in EVE, creates any scope for anything else?
- Combined Harvest? Large scale, only national scope. "Main agricultural company" in EVE is going to give it a significant size, but we know Amarrian agriculture (ie. Nurtura) is leading exporter.
- Astral Mining Inc.? Potential scope for other things if "best-run" mining company?

I think Federal megacorporations are less obvious to the layman because they don't have the trope of an ominous/monolithic singular name, but are more specific-sounding (shipyards, labs, etc.). That said, we know they are countless other companies in the empires that still hold a presence in space, are subsidiaries, or whatever, but aren't as "major". The in-game list is just the largest ones, so they might be "mega" to some degree or another.

[Vieve]

Less clear megas...

- Chemal Tech? Global scale, forefront of "EW technology a few years back"
- Poteque Pharmaceuticals? Perhaps one of those "transnational biotech corporation" types. Has leading share in cloning industry according to Cloning article.
- TransStellar Shipping? Largest shipping company in EVE, creates any scope for anything else?
- Combined Harvest? Large scale, only national scope. "Main agricultural company" in EVE is going to give it a significant size, but we know Amarrian agriculture (ie. Nurtura) is leading exporter.
- Astral Mining Inc.? Potential scope for other things if "best-run" mining company?

I think Federal megacorporations are less obvious to the layman because they don't have the trope of an ominous/monolithic singular name, but are more specific-sounding (shipyards, labs, etc.). That said, we know they are countless other companies in the empires that still hold a presence in space, are subsidiaries, or whatever, but aren't as "major". The in-game list is just the largest ones, so they might be "mega" to some degree or another.

There's also Aliastra.  "A well-run retail company that has a broad inter-stellar scope, with operations in all the empires. Aliastra has not been able to compete domestically with FedMart, but has seen moderate success in other empires."

When I think about Aliastra vs. FedMart -- which I've had to on occasion, since one of my characters is the type who frequently baselines to buy things like cheap packaged t-shirts, socks and underwear (and why yes, I can explain the logic behind that) -- I often fall back on a "Limited Brands" vs. "Wal-Mart", though that might not be the best way to describe the relationship between the two.

 

[Laerise [PIE]]

The empire has quite a few too, amongst them the largest agricultural corp and the largest weapons manifacturer.

The Carthum is a fairly new company that was formed with aid from the Caldari Lai Dai mega corporation, which owns a considerable share in the company. Carthum brought much needed vitality into the stale field of research and development and has been responsible for the respectable hi-tech gadgetry in many recent Amarrian space ships.

One of the few Amarr companies that has ventured outside its borders in search of business opportunities. Ducia Foundry is an energetic mining company that is willing to take chances in their search for rich minerals. The company has been known to send heavily armed mining expeditions deep into the outer regions, a risk that few respectable companies are willing to take.

Imperial Armaments is the largest weapon manufacturer in the world of EVE. The company manufactures a full range of weaponry, from small arms to battleships. Typically of the huge Amarr Empire, the company has always preferred quantity over quality, thus its equipment is not particularly interesting from a technological standpoint, but it is reliable and durable.

The Amarrians have whole planets dedicated to food production, the populous state has bitter experience from famine and wants to make sure it never experiences famine again on a large scale. Nurtura is one of the larger Amarrian agricultural companies, one that has been in the forefront of exporting basic foodstuff to the other empires.

Viziam is only a few years old, having been founded around the remnants of a hi-tech company that floundered. Viziam received support from the Carthum Conglomerate and has quickly risen to prominence in the industrial sector of the Amarr Empire.

An old company that dates back to the Moral Reform some 1500 years ago. Zoar was an influential Holder with strong ties to the royal court. He used his imperial connections to propel the company into the leading rank. After Zoar's death the company came under attack from rivals and political enemies and declined rapidly. But it managed to stay afloat and enjoys today a moderate success.

[Mithfindel]

Like I noted/hinted last page, Zoar owns Ducia, making the pair perhaps the largest Amarr conglomerate. Furthermore, http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Zoar_and_Sons_(NPC_corporation) has some additional information.

[Seriphyn]

It's interesting regarding Amarrian corporations and economy. Apparently, True Amarr despise merchant and trade work, and it's interesting it is referred to as such, and not "market capitalism", or whatever. Like I mentioned, perhaps corporations and the work of capitalism is downplayed in the Empire, as it is not a facet of their culture. Ie. Megacorporations in the Fed and State are extremely powerful, that they both control society to one degree or another. In Empire, the Houses hold the power instead. Stuff like that. If the True Amarr dislike merchant stuff, then perhaps corporations are heavily regulated? Can't let them get more powerful than Houses, of course, for political/cultural reasons.

Then there's Khanid, and the few Khanid Kingdom articles we've had, we see how capitalistic they are, with corporate fairs and so on.

[Dirk Smacker]

I haven't seen Astral Mining come up in this discussion yet.

http://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Astral_Mining_Inc._%28NPC_corporation%29

They seem to be the Exxon-Mobile of Eve (i.e. whoops up on competitors in nearly every area).

[Mithfindel]

On Amarr: I think this was hinted on some Ammatar stuff at least, but economically powerful people can, de facto, have more power than many poor Holders. However, de jure, they will always be inferior. So, a very wealthy commoner might be very, very powerful. However, if he steps out of bounds suitable for a commoner, it doesn't really take much more than the most stepped-upon of Holders (possibly used as a puppet by more powerful Holders) to send him to the sulphur mines of Inis-Ilix I.

Edit to avoid double-post: And oh, Astral Mining is just dwarfed by Joint Harvesting. So, Amarr don't do "megacorps", huh?

[Lyn Farel]

Anyway in the Amarr society, you probably have quite few free merchants. Most of the people work for one Holder or another, and most of the corporations are ruled by Holders. Or by the Empire itself (because they are national companies).

[Seriphyn]

I think in this instance, megacorporations are being referred to as those with significant political or social clout.

[Z.Sinraali]

Damn your thread, Seri. It's made me want to start up a Gallente-mega aligned egger corp.

[orange]

Damn your thread, Seri. It's made me want to start up a Gallente-mega aligned egger corp.

So, which would you choose and what field(s) would it be in?

There are plenty of options when it comes to doing so and certain aspects can be your emphasis.

[Bureeiku]

... joining the discussion late.

To address the OP, are there two sides to your question?  The Caldari infodump is about their financial system.  But it seems you are also wanting to discuss cultural differences as well.  Well, they have to be intertwined so maybe two sides of the same coin? (pun intended)

There are lots of tidbits that infodump tells us about the Federation's financial system:

- "independent" banks... largest remnants of the legacy finance system that existed under the Federation [Gallentean banks are not under corporate umbrellas]
- ...exchange rate with Federation currency... [single currency system, subject to currency market, unlike Caldari fixed rates (a la Chinese)]
- Unlike in the Federation, there is no government-backed insurance for any sort of savings account in the State [Federation has social protection for its citizens, a very Western model]
-  megacorporations depend on the independent banks for their well-being, especially Caldari Funds Unlimited, which acts as a “bank of last resort” in the State, similar (but not nearly as powerful or robust) as the Bank of Luminaire in the Federation [Luminaire, as an epitomized Gallentean bank is more powerful and robust, likely due to being free of megacorp control, as in the State, can be more diversified and invest in competiting interests]
- Unlike in the Federation, there is no government stipend to bolster savings for retirement [another socialistic cultural theme, government as protector for the people as a participant in the open financial market, not owner of it]
- While the Caldari economy has been characterized as an unregulated ultracapitalist melee by Federation critics [hinting that the Gallentean system is more regulated and more socialist, which makes sense from what we know of the Gallente cultural]

IMHO:

All of this hints at a market in which megacorps are just as free to proliferate as in the Caldari system, but with the understanding of how cultural differences affect the way Federation megas are run and controlled.  Caldari = group oriented, success for the group at expense of individual (culture protects individuals to some extent), honour tied to service to the group.  Gallente = individualistic, success for the individual over the group (regulations protect the group), honour tied to personal liberties and their preservation.

Gallente megas don't have physical regions of control like the Caldari (except maybe on stations), but I imagine they would have anti-collusion/monopoly regulations like most RL western societies (again based on governm't protection for the individual).  Instead they would have market shares and exert control through marketing and persuasion.  Gallenteans would have the consumer-based society type of the US with some of the European socialist leaning, contrasted agains the employee-citizen model of modern day Japanese culture.

TL;DR megas should exist everywhere (or at least as much in the Federation as in the State), but are simply run differently per cultural differences.

[Seriphyn]

http://www.eveonline.com/background/potw/default.asp?cid=sep01-02

Very good in detailing how there are two lines of thought in Fed political economics. They have a mixture of both American laissez-faire, rugged individualism, as well as social democratic regulation. From what we have seen, this adds up. It also creates an interesting corporate culture in the Fed, who have to dodge and meander about rules and laws (like Lost Stars). It also has some stuff about Caldari/Gallente attitude to wealth acquirement.

It makes me think of the current trend we've had in the past 50 years, of small, family-owned businesses being weeded out by retail corporations. In the Fed/State, we have FedMart and Expert Distribution, the former being the larger of the two, who have an interest everywhere (even if FedMart doesn't have stations outside Fed). This is where I theorize that in the Republic/Empire, small businesses and merchants may be the norm, since there isn't any major retail NPC corporations of Minnie, Amarr flavour.