Ron Harris
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691150772
- eISBN:
- 9780691185804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150772.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter addresses a wide set of research questions on the organization of trade as a whole and then zooms in on research questions that focus on the development of the joint-stock business ...
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This chapter addresses a wide set of research questions on the organization of trade as a whole and then zooms in on research questions that focus on the development of the joint-stock business corporation. It explains why the European business corporation wasn't mimicked by other Eurasian regions for another three hundred years and why institutions that had some corporate-like features did not further evolve to compete successfully with the corporate-based European mercantile enterprises. The chapter closely examines the role played by organizational forms in the transformation of Eurasian trade roughly between 1400 and 1700. It also compares the organizational forms that were used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. All four regions were involved in the same kind of business activity, such as long-distance trade, within the greater Indian Ocean.Less
This chapter addresses a wide set of research questions on the organization of trade as a whole and then zooms in on research questions that focus on the development of the joint-stock business corporation. It explains why the European business corporation wasn't mimicked by other Eurasian regions for another three hundred years and why institutions that had some corporate-like features did not further evolve to compete successfully with the corporate-based European mercantile enterprises. The chapter closely examines the role played by organizational forms in the transformation of Eurasian trade roughly between 1400 and 1700. It also compares the organizational forms that were used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. All four regions were involved in the same kind of business activity, such as long-distance trade, within the greater Indian Ocean.
Ron Harris
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691150772
- eISBN:
- 9780691185804
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150772.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and ...
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Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and state-owned enterprises, and dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders. However, around 1600 the first two joint-stock corporations, the English and Dutch East India Companies, were established. This book tells the story of overland and maritime trade without Europeans, of European Cape Route trade without corporations, and of how new, large-scale, and impersonal organizations arose in Europe to control long-distance trade for more than three centuries. It shows that by 1700, the scene and methods for global trade had dramatically changed: Dutch and English merchants shepherded goods directly from China and India to northwestern Europe. To understand this transformation, the book compares the organizational forms used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. The English and Dutch were the last to leap into Eurasian trade, and they innovated in order to compete. They raised capital from passive investors through impersonal stock markets and their joint-stock corporations deployed more capital, ships, and agents to deliver goods from their origins to consumers. The book explores the history behind a cornerstone of the modern economy, and how this organizational revolution contributed to the formation of global trade and the creation of the business corporation as a key factor in Europe's economic rise.Less
Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and state-owned enterprises, and dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders. However, around 1600 the first two joint-stock corporations, the English and Dutch East India Companies, were established. This book tells the story of overland and maritime trade without Europeans, of European Cape Route trade without corporations, and of how new, large-scale, and impersonal organizations arose in Europe to control long-distance trade for more than three centuries. It shows that by 1700, the scene and methods for global trade had dramatically changed: Dutch and English merchants shepherded goods directly from China and India to northwestern Europe. To understand this transformation, the book compares the organizational forms used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. The English and Dutch were the last to leap into Eurasian trade, and they innovated in order to compete. They raised capital from passive investors through impersonal stock markets and their joint-stock corporations deployed more capital, ships, and agents to deliver goods from their origins to consumers. The book explores the history behind a cornerstone of the modern economy, and how this organizational revolution contributed to the formation of global trade and the creation of the business corporation as a key factor in Europe's economic rise.
Robin Pearson and Takau Yoneyama
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198739005
- eISBN:
- 9780191802157
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198739005.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Business History
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the development of organizations in insurance worldwide from the origins of the industry to the present day and summarizes the relevant theoretical ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the development of organizations in insurance worldwide from the origins of the industry to the present day and summarizes the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on this topic. It describes the research project that underpins this book, outlines the content of the contributing chapters and points to some conclusions about organizational choice that have a wider relevance for modern theory.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the development of organizations in insurance worldwide from the origins of the industry to the present day and summarizes the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on this topic. It describes the research project that underpins this book, outlines the content of the contributing chapters and points to some conclusions about organizational choice that have a wider relevance for modern theory.
Andrew W. Kahrl
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781469628721
- eISBN:
- 9781469628745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469628721.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
Set in turn-of-the-20th century Washington, DC, the chapter shows how racial segregation and black economic exploitation became features of summer leisure enterprises, and tells the story of ...
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Set in turn-of-the-20th century Washington, DC, the chapter shows how racial segregation and black economic exploitation became features of summer leisure enterprises, and tells the story of enterprising African Americans who attempted to capitalize on blacks’ demand for outdoor leisure by acquiring waterfront properties and investing in excursion steamboats. Fledgling black-owned steamboat companies and resorts appealed to African Americans’ racial pride and loyalty to generate investors and customers. They did so in competition with larger, white-owned companies, which also recognized the profitability of black leisure and operated their own “colored” steamboats and resorts. Black excursion boats and pleasure resorts, the chapter shows, faced incessant harassment and attacks on patrons and property from white officials, newspapers, law enforcement, and competing businesses. In addition, the undercapitalization of black enterprises forced them into risky business arrangements. As a result, these ventures often ended in colossal failure and significant financial loss for investors. The chapter profiles two of Washington, DC’s most prominent African American businessmen during this era, John W. Patterson and Lewis Jefferson, and examines their efforts to build fortunes through “colored” leisure enterprises.Less
Set in turn-of-the-20th century Washington, DC, the chapter shows how racial segregation and black economic exploitation became features of summer leisure enterprises, and tells the story of enterprising African Americans who attempted to capitalize on blacks’ demand for outdoor leisure by acquiring waterfront properties and investing in excursion steamboats. Fledgling black-owned steamboat companies and resorts appealed to African Americans’ racial pride and loyalty to generate investors and customers. They did so in competition with larger, white-owned companies, which also recognized the profitability of black leisure and operated their own “colored” steamboats and resorts. Black excursion boats and pleasure resorts, the chapter shows, faced incessant harassment and attacks on patrons and property from white officials, newspapers, law enforcement, and competing businesses. In addition, the undercapitalization of black enterprises forced them into risky business arrangements. As a result, these ventures often ended in colossal failure and significant financial loss for investors. The chapter profiles two of Washington, DC’s most prominent African American businessmen during this era, John W. Patterson and Lewis Jefferson, and examines their efforts to build fortunes through “colored” leisure enterprises.
