Abstract The full population of England and Wales employers and own-account business proprietors is estimated using population censuses 1851–1911. The main contribution of the article is a method of mixed single imputation to overcome the challenge of non-responses to the census 1851–1881. This method is compared with alternatives. Downloads of all data allow replication. The method is used to track

Abstract In response to a special call of ‘bringing gender and feminism from the periphery to the centre of business history’, the authors undertake an in-depth appraisal of Business History’s own record, as a key signifier of the field. The scope includes articles and reviews published between 2000 and 2020 and find 17 articles out of 918 (1.85%) and 99 reviews out of 2,217 (4.46%), with a downward

Abstract This paper will examine Estate Duty(ED) and its impact on the structure of smaller British businesses. ED was one of the most controversial and wide-ranging taxes ever imposed in the UK. It was the first substantive tax on capital. It was partly responsible for the reconfiguration of British business in the 1940s- 1950s as businesses sought to avoid the Duty with measures which could result

Abstract The 1970s were a defining moment for the European business associations, which were faced with the most important social upheavals of the post-war period, a major economic crisis and the British process of accession to the EEC. This article aims to broaden our knowledge of how Swiss business leaders contributed, during this tumultuous period, to lead the European institutions towards further

(2021). Victorian literary businesses. The management and practices of the british publishing industry. Business History. Ahead of Print.

(2021). Promoting monopoly: AT&T and the politics of public relations, 1876–1941, by Karen Miller Russell. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This research contributes to British multinational banking history, post-acquisition integration and legitimacy research, by exploring HSBC’s top management control integration with its first two acquired British banks, during the period 1960–1980, from the social psychological perspective of legitimacy judgement. It explores why HSBC’s key decision-maker’s legitimacy judgement of the initial

Abstract Natural resources, especially energy resources, are often considered vital to the process of economic development, with the availability of coal considered central for the nineteenth century. Clearly, however, although coal might have spurred economic development, development might also have spurred the discovery and use of coal. To shed light on this, we suggest that the case of resource-poor

Abstract The United States Council for International Business today is one of the United States most powerful domestic business organisations and is a leading ambassador for US international business interests abroad. It is also the US affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and Business at OECD. At its founding in 1945, the United States

Abstract Τhis article examines the creation of product categories as a cultural construct. Categories serve not simply to classify different products but also to signify one’s taste. Τo examine how categories became embedded with cultural meanings, this article takes an interdisciplinary approach: the narrative analysis which has been employed by a number of business historians and the production of

Abstract This article shows how wartime conditions transformed the waste business in Japan. Hygiene regulations from 1900 to the 1920s followed by an influx of Korean migrant labour disrupted the traditional waste trade. The conquest of Manchuria opened up new export markets for Japanese waste and increased the demand for munitions, causing scrap metal prices to skyrocket. These new economic conditions

Abstract As the ‘golden age of American capitalism’ drew to a close in the 1970s, major U.S. manufacturing companies mobilised politically to defend their long-standing hegemony. Despite notable policy victories concerning labour, regulation, and fiscal policy, the self-appointed ‘mouthpieces’ of U.S. industry failed to cohere around a clear agenda to confront the decline of U.S. manufacturing. By

Abstract Nuclear energy was one among business opportunities brought by the take off in science and technology after the Second World War. The narratives of the milestones of atomic history neglect the commercial, industrial and organizational aspects that made it possible. This paper concentrates on what makes the nuclear business exceptional (or not). We undertake an analysis of the nuclear supply

Abstract This article explores the economic policies of Sovrybflot, the Soviet fishing fleet, which was consolidated in 1965 within the USSR Ministry of Fisheries and oriented to a maritime fishing framework of 200-mile exclusive economic zones, implemented by the United Nations. The present study, which draws on accounting records and other primary documents held in the Russian State Archive of the

Abstract During the 1970s and 1980s, economic and financial crime turned into a societal issue in Switzerland. The perpetrators of white-collar crime often enjoyed total impunity: legal proceedings were very time consuming, authorities in charge of judicial investigation were under-resourced. This paper investigates how the political and judicial authorities responded to this challenge. By the end

ABSTRACT Scholars at the intersection of business history and strategic management have argued for the relevance and importance of historical methods in the study of strategic management of organizations. We flip this argument and ask about the role of strategic management concepts in the study of business history. We analyze volumes of Business History and Business History Review and a representative

Abstract Disaster management is a neglected area of British business history. Industrial disasters led to significant loss of life and imposed considerable costs on firms involved. This article examines the emergence of a network of mine rescue stations across UK coalfields in the early twentieth century, making use of previously overlooked records of mine rescue station boards. Pioneering mine rescue

(2020). Post-War business planners in the United States, 1939–48: The rise of the corporate moderates. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract Historical research into the nuclear industry has focussed upon military and commercial aspects of the technology whilst ignoring fuel. This article discusses nuclear fuel, the resource at the centre of the industry and the role superpower politics played in its supply. Starting with the context of superpower competition, we examine the spread of nuclear technology from its beginnings in post-war

Abstract This study explores the financial performance and economic impact of British investment in the Colombian National Railway Company, the largest British direct investment in Colombia during the first period of globalisation. It aims to ascertain the railway’s impact on the regional economy and explain why it failed as a going concern. It explores three dimensions: the use of guaranteed railway

Abstract In the early stage of Japanese industrialisation after 1886, the former feudal lords, known as daimyo, played an important role as pioneers in equity investments in modern industries with their huge assets. In addition, when their ex-retainers attempted to establish modern enterprises, the daimyo often invested in their businesses. Moreover, the daimyo often provided opportunities for well-educating

Abstract Scenario planning is a tool for considering alternative futures and their potential impact. The article firstly addresses the paucity of history on management tools by discussing several important lineages in scenario planning’s evolution over time, and the emphasis placed on historical analysis by some specific variants therein. Secondly, it describes how causal analysis can be enhanced in

Abstract Bubbles have become ubiquitous. This ubiquity has stimulated research over the past three decades into bubbles in history. In this article, we provide a systematic overview of research into historical bubbles. Our analysis reveals that there is no coherent approach to the study of bubbles and much of the debate has unhelpfully focussed on the rationality/irrationality dichotomy. We then suggest

Abstract Technological progress in semiconductor chips plays a central role in enabling the Information Technology revolution. Continual technological progress in semiconductor chips, which has become popular under the name of Moore’s Law, reduces the cost of storing and processing information. While the role of the semiconductor chip manufacturing companies in driving Moore’s Law is well known, less

Abstract While state-owned enterprises (SOEs) used to be considered obsolete tools for governmental intervention in the economy, in recent years governmental intervention in the business sector has re-emerged as a topic of debate. However, scholarship on the changes in and the modernisation of the SOE model is limited. In this article, we examine how the Finnish state’s ownership policy adapted to

(2020). A history of corporate financial reporting in Britain. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This historical case study of the multinational agribusiness Monsanto explores the challenges organizations face when attempting to translate a problematic past into strategic gain. We draw on Resource-Based Theory (RBT) to explain how the relative ability to own and control history as an intangible resource enables or constrains effective managerial deployments of history. Our analysis explores

Abstract Proper inventory management is crucial for art galleries. Yet, despite its importance, inventory management has been overlooked in the literature. We distinguish four main strategies used by art dealers to manage their inventory and use this classification to set the inventory strategy of Goupil, Boussod & Valadon, a major art gallery active in France at the end of the 19th century, into perspective

Abstract This article examines the rise of a professional rating for financial analysts – the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) award. The development of a professional rating is explained here as a need to brand and distinguish those analysts who had undertaken a formal training and achieved the necessary skill-sets. Three themes are used to trace this development: the emergence of regional communities

Abstract This article analyses the interaction between the system of taxation and business in Greece during the crucial period of the military dictatorship (1967-1974) in order to throw light on the Greek version of Mediterranean capitalism that developed in the post-Second World War framework and how it affected business doing in the country. It will be shown that through this type of capitalism clientelism

(2020). Nothing succeeds liked failure: the sad history of american business schools. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This article explores the role of nobility in the modernisation of Finland during the late 19th century. We focus on the Ehrnrooths, undoubtedly the most famous noble business dynasty in the country. We find that some members of this old military family were especially successful in expanding their inherited economic, social, and cultural capital as well as combining traditional and modern

Abstract Historically, it was common for companies to issue assessable stock. With assessable stock, a company’s board of directors could request additional payments beyond the initial stock price. Typically, shareholders forfeited their stock ownership if assessments remained unpaid; defaulted shares were sold at auction. This form of securitization became popular in extractive industries, such as

Abstract This paper addresses questions seeking to clarify the nature of personal networking between modern Japan’s wealthy economic elite and the Japanese nobility. In particular, to explore whether the social connections between the wealthy and the nobility led to changes in behaviour and formation of social ties, the marriages between the wealthy economic elite and the Japanese aristocracy, will

This study investigates how small corporations in rural areas arranged funds and reassesses the role of market-based financing for Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises from the 1880s through the 1910s. Whereas previous studies have focused on the financing of large corporations in urban areas, this paper argues that corporations of various sizes, including small ones in rural areas, arranged

Abstract Business history investigation of coffee traders in Le Havre from 1920 to 1955 enables us to qualify deliberate and emergent agglomerate collective strategy. Using philosopher’s contributions to the understanding of collective action (Bratman 1993 Bratman, M. E. (1993). Shared intention. Ethics, 104 (1), 97–113. https://doi.org/10.1086/293577 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar])

(2020). Imperial standard: Imperial oil, exxon, and the Canadian oil industry from 1880. Business History. Ahead of Print.

(2020). The overseers of early American slavery: Supervisors, enslaved labourers and the plantation enterprise. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract Recent research in economic geography has introduced two notions that historical studies should explore: regional resilience and related variety. Regional resilience refers to a region’s ability to recover from external shocks. Related variety refers to the existence of related industrial sectors in a region, and the relatedness promotes economic development due to spill-overs between sectors

(2020). X-ray contrast agent technology. A revolutionary history, by Christoph de Haën, Boca Raton/London/New York, CRC Press-Taylor & Francis Group, 2019, xi +326 pp., (hardback), ISBN 978-1-138-35164-6 show [zaq no='AQ1']. Business History. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This article examines the long-term development of two strategic alliances between major Spanish (RUI and Iberostar) and German (TUI and Neckermann) tourist firms. Our research builds on the literature on foreign direct investment and institutionalism applied to cross-border cooperation, yet using business history research methods. The study aims to understand how the local Spanish context

Abstract The ENSI project was a joint study between the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Italian government for the construction of a nuclear power station in the South of Italy at the end of the 1950s. Garigliano nuclear power plant is unique in terms of energy, politics and finance because it was intended to be an international model, both in technology and operating

Abstract Our article is based on the diaries of Joseph Stephens, a 19th century Swedish railway contractor in British India. The Stephens’ diaries, discovered in 2008, are the only one of their kind, offering an insight into the life of a railway contractor from that era. The diaries reveal a web of networks and relationships that helped Stephens achieve success as a small-scale railway contractor

Abstract According to Neil Rollings and Laurent Warlouzet, the historical analysis of the European competition policy has been a priority in the research on institutions but the reaction of companies to these policies has received less attention. This study highlights the importance of analyzing how public policies affect business strategies in innovation. More specifically, how the policy adopted

Abstract In Australia in 2018, a Royal Commission investigating misconduct within the financial services sector uncovered systemic problems associated with the provision of financial services. The Commission concluded that the causes of the problems identified lay with the systems and cultures cultivated by the businesses involved. An analysis of the environment in which financial services firms evolved

Abstract This article examines how, as a centerpiece of France’s commercial beauty culture, the early twentieth-century beauty institute provided the strategies, goods, and professional opportunities required to make French women modern. An industry dedicated to women’s self-care and instrumental in making women visible (creating a look that in turn influenced how women would be seen) in the industrial

Abstract We analysed the process of construction and connection to the electrical grid of four Spanish nuclear power plants with different financial and technological foreign partners: those of Zorita (PWR by Westinghouse), Garoña (BWR by General Electric) and Vandellós I (GCR by EDF) (belonging to the first generation of atomic plants and producing electricity from 1969–72) and that of Trillo I (PWR

(2020). Correction. Business History: Vol. 62, Foreign Investment and Development of Capabilities in Host Economies, pp. II-II.

(2020). La industrialización en bogotá entre 1830 y 1930: un proceso lento y difícil. Business History. Ahead of Print.

This study examines the deployment of female employees as ‘Personal Bankers’ in Barclays Bank from the 1970s onwards to improve relationships with customers (which were poor) and increase the bank’s volume of business in a competitive environment. Uniforms were introduced for Personal Bankers in order to clearly differentiate these staff within bank branches and to enhance the bank’s brand identity

This article explores the creation, operation, and failure of the UK’s fast breeder reactor programme at Dounreay within the context of the development of the nuclear power industry in the UK, and the administration of national and regional economic policy. The UK government maintained total control of the development of the technology including its creation, operation, and attempts at exploitation

Abstract This article focuses on the entrepreneurial and pro-social activities of William Rushworth II from 1897 to 1944. He inherited a family business modest in scale, which eventually became one of the largest music houses in the world. The Company business model incorporated entrepreneurial and pro-social activities. Our theoretical model shows the transmutability of the forms of capital and how

Reinsurance is often characterised as a business built on personal relationships, goodwill and mutual trust. However, at different times in its history observers have warned that technological and ...

Abstract State support is critical to enhancing a country’s capacity for innovation and for delivering large-scale complex projects where significant upfront investment is required. These megaprojects are high risk due to their size, investment level, time duration and the type of innovation required. Their complexity means that context affects decision-making, innovation approach taken and project

Abstract This article provides a new understanding of how organisations from the profit and non-profit sectors collaborated to fundraise for the arts in Interwar Britain. The central focus is the Contemporary Art Society (CAS) an organisation established in the belief that the art being acquired for national collections was inadequate. Based on an analysis of CAS committee members; the relationship

Abstract This study analyses the history of the Ginori porcelain manufactory, from its foundation owing to the entrepreneurial effort of the marquis Carlo Ginori in the 1730s to the merger with the ‘Società Ceramica Richard’ in 1896. The aristocratic entrepreneurship marked the manufactory with some atypical traits in accountancy, administration, succession, and strategic decisions that persisted for

(2020). Creating Global Shipping Aristotle Onassis, the Vagliano Brothers, and the Business of Shipping, c.1820–1970. Business History. Ahead of Print.

The article analyzes the role played by the nobility in the modernization of Genoa, one of the poles of Italian economic development. After the Napoleonic era, in which the city suffered huge finan...

The focus of this special edition is on Indian business within its wider global context. Indian business was not immune to influences from the wider world. There is a considerable body of literatur...

Why does Administration Industrielle et Generale have a major status in the history of management thought? We argue that the rational reason for the enthusiasm for Fayol’s theory disguises the irrational and unconscious fears in societies for which the cool rationality of Fayol’s work offered a soothing balm. We discuss this in two different but relatively similar post-war settings—France in the 1920s