Its rivals are all merging, and Japan's clannish, inward-looking corporate culture makes that very hazardous.

ECONOMIST: Japanese banking

Some point to Islam as a factor, others to the clannish and paternalistic nature of Arab societies.

ECONOMIST: Arab democracy

Outsiders who unsettle the obstetric cartel meet clannish (and even self-interested) opposition.

ECONOMIST: The pioneer of home births in Hungary faces jail

Georgia is a clannish country in which doing favours for friends is regarded as a moral obligation far more so than obeying footling little rules.

ECONOMIST: Edward Shevardnadze, Georgia��s foxy president

In 2008, Zappos surpassed a billion dollars in gross sales, an occasion that its fiercely clannish employees who operate under a program of ten Core Values (No. 3: Create Fun and a Little Weirdness) celebrated with clanging cowbells, followed by vodka shots at a local Claim Jumper restaurant.

NEWYORKER: Happy Feet