Showing papers in "Business History Review in 1973"
Abstract: One can only admire C. H. Feinstein's ability and energy. Over the last decade or so he has provided an enormous amount of historical statistical data for the British economy. The present volume provides a fitting culmination of many years of laborious work, and it will no doubt serve as a quarry for historians and economists for a long time to come. It ensures too that the name of Feinstein will secure a firm placing in the annals of statistical inquiry. No doubt Dr. Feinstein would be the first to admit that this is not an easy book to read, for obvious reasons. It comprises sixty-five master tables covering national income and its main sub-aggregates profits, capital formation, indices of production, population and labor force, prices, wages and balance of payments, as well as many summary tables in the text. In other words, it includes most of the main macroeconomic data necessary for a study of the U.K. economy since the mid-nineteenth century, which is promised in due course. The first part of the volume is devoted to a detailed explanation of the sources and methods used in compiling the estimates. Despite its length (over 200 pages), a number of doubts and queries remain, and since it would be impossible in a short review to go through the volume in detail, I shall confine my attention to raising one or two points which came to mind when reading the volume. Users of the data should be aware of the fact that some of the estimates are subject to considerable margins of error, though Dr. Feinstein frequently expresses a quiet degree of confidence in many of his calculations. Not surprisingly, the farther one goes back in time, and for those periods which include major wars, the less reliable are the estimates. Some of the sector estimates, for example those for the output of road haulage and certain services, are not based on very firm foundations. Moreover, it is essential that whatever section of the data the reader wishes to utilize he first reads carefully the relevant explanatory notes on compilation. Even then some doubts will remain. For instance, on page 209 it is stated that twenty-three indicators were used for compiling the output of transport and communication, forty-nine for the distributive trades, and twenty-nine for professional and miscellaneous services for the inter-war period, but we are given very little information as to exactly what is included. Some of the sector estimates do not give grounds for great confidence. A difficult one proved to be road haulage for the years 1920-1938, and here resort was had to a weighted index of goods vehicles in use. This is obviously not particularly satisfactory, given the fact that the licensing system of 1933 checked the growth
121 citations
TL;DR: An examination of the chief executives of leading British railways from 1850 through 1922 indicates that they emerged from predominantly upper-middle and upper class origins, and represented a new kind of bureaucratic business elite which enjoyed rising incomes and growing social status.
Abstract: An examination of the chief executives of leading British railways from 1850 through 1922 indicates that they emerged from predominantly upper-middle and upper class origins, and that they represented a new kind of bureaucratic business elite which enjoyed rising incomes and growing social status. In addition, available evidence reveals nothing to suggest that “executive immobility” was characteristic of British railway management, or that the railways were particularly inefficient or unprogressive in their choice of senior managers.
37 citations
TL;DR: Gitelman as discussed by the authors suggests that the causes of industrial violence were similar in the United States and Europe, and that the apparently higher incidence of strike violence in this country was due to the willingness and/or ability of American management to utilize strategies of replacing striking workers and deploying armed men.
Abstract: Professor Gitelman suggests that the causes of industrial violence were similar in the United States and Europe, and that the apparently higher incidence of strike violence in this country was due to the greater willingness and/or ability of American management to utilize strategies of replacing striking workers and deploying armed men.
29 citations
TL;DR: Stearns as discussed by the authors argued that workers in the same occupations had common characteristics that transcended national boundaries, but a worker's beliefs and aspirations were not determined solely by his job, and although Stearns seeks a new approach to labor history, he has relied heavily upon the existing conceptual framework and is unduly concerned with the old problem of whether the labor movements were as radical as they often claimed or were growing more moderate before World War I.
Abstract: features of workers suggests a number of fruitful research problems, but his elaboration of this point suffers from a narrowness that is out of character with his general principles. That workers in the same occupations had common characteristics that transcended national boundaries is undoubtedly true, but a worker's beliefs and aspirations were not determined solely by his job. Finally, although Stearns seeks a new approach to labor history, he has relied heavily upon the existing conceptual framework and is unduly concerned with the old problem of whether the labor movements were as radical as they often claimed or were growing more moderate before World War I. His reliance upon that framework helps to explain why his conclusion that the labor movements became increasingly reformist does not differ from Mitchell's interpretation. The practitioners of the traditional forms of labor history should not however take too much consolation in the fact that one of Stearns' conclusions appears to support the validity of their methods. On the contrary, for he has raised significant questions that can neither be avoided nor answered adequately by the older approach. The fact that his essay has a number of weaknesses and may not be an entirely convincing model for a new approach is itself only an indication of how difficult it is to discover and interpret all the dimensions of the workers' lives. Mitchell's generalizations are more judicious, but they are also less provocative. If, through this confrontation, the authors help to stimulate better and more imaginative studies, then European labor history will clearly be the winner in this debate.
25 citations
TL;DR: Carosso as mentioned in this paper traces the history of the money trust controversy through the first half of this century and concludes that the attacks were largely unjustified, either on economic or legal grounds.
Abstract: Assaults on the “money power” had a profound influence on public policies in twentieth-century America. Tracing the history of the “money trust” controversy through the first half of this century, Professor Carosso concludes that the attacks were largely unjustified, either on economic or legal grounds.
21 citations
TL;DR: Yamamura as mentioned in this paper analyzes the rise and subsequent decline of the za from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, paying special attention to their influence on the development of commercial activity.
Abstract: The za was a leading medieval Japanese economic institution, often likened to the European guild. Professor Yamamura analyzes the rise and subsequent decline of za from the eleventh through the sixteenth centuries, paying special attention to their influence on the development of commercial activity.
21 citations
TL;DR: Acheson as discussed by the authors presents collective social portraits of two groups of leading Canadian industrialists, one from the years 1880-1885 and the other from 1905-1910, and considers such factors as ethnic and religious traditions, birthplaces, education, family backgrounds, career patterns, political and social activities, economic mobility, and regional differentials in analyzing the changing composition of two elites.
Abstract: Professor Acheson presents the collective social portraits of two groups of leading Canadian industrialists, one from the years 1880–1885 and the other from 1905–1910. He considers such factors as ethnic and religious traditions, birthplaces, education, family backgrounds, career patterns, political and social activities, economic mobility, and regional differentials in analyzing the changing composition of the two elites.
19 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that Canada initially welcomed America's consciously expansionist thrust, and that they eventually became entangled in the problems of seeking rapid economic growth along with economic independence from both the older imperialism of Great Britain and the newer variety represented by the United States.
Abstract: The growth of the United States' economic influence in twentieth-century Canada was intimately related to the continuation of the “National Policy†of protectionist tariffs. Professor Scheinberg argues that Canadians initially welcomed America's consciously expansionist thrust, and that they eventually became entangled in the problems of seeking rapid economic growth along with economic independence from both the older imperialism of Great Britain and the newer variety represented by the United States.
19 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the complex process of the transfer of technology in the early stages of industrialization and found that the manner and timing of the selective acquisition of portions of Britain's new textile technology by entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region were determined by the subtle interplay of market forces, technological constraints and active efforts to encourage or discourage the transfer.
Abstract: This study examines the complex process of the transfer of technology in the early stages of industrialization. The manner and timing of the selective acquisition of portions of Britain's new textile technology by entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia region were determined by the subtle interplay of market forces, technological constraints, and active efforts to encourage or discourage the transfer.
17 citations
TL;DR: The Tragedy of American Diplomacy is one of the most influential and popular interpretations of the sources of American expansionism as discussed by the authors, however, evidence of business behavior indicates that overseas expansion and exports were not a very important avenue through which U.S. businessmen sought to control prices and output.
Abstract: C Recent diplomatic historians have explained much of American expansionism at the end of the nineteenth century as the product of domestic industrial overcapacity and the resulting need to seek foreign markets. Evidence of business behavior, however, indicates that overseas expansion and exports were not a very important avenue through which U.S. businessmen sought to control prices and output. Indeed, in most of the industries which did engage in significant foreign activities, their expansion was usually the result of genuine competitive advantages rather than a sign of economic ill health. William Appleman Williams' The Tragedy of American Diplomacy is one of the most influential and popular interpretations of the sources of American expansionism. Williams argues that American industry turned out such an oversupply of goods in the late nineteenth century that America was impelled to develop foreign markets to relieve the glutted domestic economy. Manufacturers sought exports, and government policy makers facilitated that search, in order to employ workers periodically idled by economic crises brought on by overproduction and underconsumption.' In his more recent work, The Roots of the Modern American Empire, Williams explored the role of farmers in America's outward thrust "toward overseas markets as a crucial element in the nation's well being." While concentrating on agriculturalists, however, he still maintains that "various elements of the industrial part of the economy . . produced increasing surpluses. They had to be exported if they were to be sold at all." 2
15 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that the anti-trust tradition in Canada was much more similar to the British experience than to the policies adopted in the United States, and pointed out that at no time, did Canadian legislation significantly expand the common law prohibition of undue or unreasonable restraints of trade, and the few prosecutions after 1900 had no significant effect in inhibiting the thrust of business resistance to market forces.
Abstract: Professor Bliss suggests that the Canadian anti-trust tradition was much more similar to the British experience than to the policies adopted in the United States. At no time, he argues, did Canadian legislation significantly expand the common law prohibition of undue or unreasonable restraints of trade, and the few prosecutions after 1900 had no significant effect in inhibiting the thrust of business resistance to market forces.
TL;DR: The authors of as mentioned in this paper concluded that the economic measures taken to control America's untractable inflation may have had some kind of economic foundation, but there was little economic rationale for demands made on the outside world and in particular for a revaluation of the yen.
Abstract: is necessary to wade through the facts, figures, and Japanese names presented in this book. The content is frequently repetitious — a competent editor could have easily cut 100 pages with no loss to the content — and gratuitous remarks inserted in lieu of analyses are either naive or superficial. A few examples will suffice to indicate the level of these remarks. The inflationary problems immediately following World War II are attributed to \"the inept economic policies of the government\" which \"undermined confidence\" (27); what the authors called \"the growth mechanism\" consists of listing \"conditions favoring technological progress,\" \"strong demand,\" \"reservoir of workers,\" and \"the high investment productivity\" (213). Thirteen lines in all, the authors' assessment of revaluation of the yen concludes that \"the economic measures taken to control America's untractable inflation may have had some kind of economic foundation, but there was little economic rationale for demands made on the outside world and in particular for a revaluation of the yen\" (281).
TL;DR: In this article, an investigation of American railway management indicates that the railroads, which had been such innovative institutions in the nineteenth century, clung to ossified and outdated managerial practices after the industry reached maturity.
Abstract: The author investigation of American railway management indicates that the railroads, which had been such innovative institutions in the nineteenth century, clung to ossified and outmoded managerial practices after the industry reached maturity. Inbred and inflexible systems of recruitment and promotion, he argues, were a noteworthy aspect of the economic decline of American railroads in the twentieth century.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a history of the attempt by professional accounting societies to define and implement the use of accounting principles and how institutions (such as securities exchanges and government agencies) that are influenced by these principles affect the ability of the accounting profession to determine the foundations of the subject which its members practice.
Abstract: Professor Stephen A. Zeff believes that the accounting profession must accelerate its efforts to define the basic principles on which accounting practice rests. These principles are \"the measurement rules affecting asset valuation and income determination\" (vii). Public accountants refer in audit reports to \"generally accepted accounting principles,\" yet considerable debate for many years has not produced consensus as to what are \"generally accepted\" principles. Rather than add to this already crowded field yet another treatise on accounting principles per se, Zeff explores in this book a relatively neglected topic: the processes by which accounting principles are developed. He centers his investigation upon the efforts of professional accounting societies in five countries (viz., England, Scotland, the United States, Canada, and Mexico) to improve the quality of financial reporting. In a separate chapter devoted to each country, Zeff presents a history of the attempt by professional accounting societies to define and implement the use of accounting principles. He also considers how institutions (such as securities exchanges and government agencies) that are influenced by these principles affect the ability of the accounting profession to determine \"the foundations of the subject which its members practice\" (332). Because the professional societies of the countries Zeff considers have not been issuing pronouncements on accounting principles for the same number of years, Zeff's study is necessarily uneven. Over two-thirds of the book concentrates on English and American developments since the 1930's, while only 12 per cent of the book is devoted to Canada, 7 per cent to Mexico, and 3 per cent to Scotland. The result is an informative analysis limited to countries within the Anglo-American sphere of influence. A particularly interesting point is raised in relation to Zeff's mention of the familiar notion that the pressure of large corporate clients on members of the accounting profession explains in large part the profession's difficulty in agreeing upon a common body of accounting prin-
TL;DR: The authors provide a sort of Readers' Digest guide to thirty to forty novels, some well known as Nicholas Nickleby or North and South, some as obscure as The Factory Girl (Paul Pimlico, 1849), serving as a painless primer to a sizeable body of Victorian literature.
Abstract: unfortunate that this book does not tell us. What it does provide is a sort of Readers' Digest guide to the thirty to forty novels, some as well known as Nicholas Nickleby or North and South, some as obscure as The Factory Girl (Paul Pimlico, 1849); a guide which gives copious quotations and a brief recapitulation of the plot, serving as a painless primer to a sizeable body of Victorian literature.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a collection of essays with the purpose of increasing non-Canadians' knowledge of Canadian history and extending the body of scholarly work devoted to Canadian business and economic history.
Abstract: Canadian history has traditionally received relatively little study outside Canada itself, despite the fact that the Canadian past is a fascinating and rich story indeed, one which has generated an admirable body of historical literature. And, as those interested in the history of business and the historical interaction of business and society would expect, within Canadian historiography there has traditionally been relatively little emphasis on business history The publication of the present collection of essays has a twofold purpose – to increase, however modestly, non-Canadians' knowledge of Canadian history, and to extend the body of scholarly work devoted to Canadian business and economic history.
TL;DR: The authors argued that oil executives rather than government officials led the movement for regulation and that their dominant goals were the stabilization of prices and profits, and that regulation was not aimed at maximizing profits.
Abstract: The 1920's and early 1930's witnessed the beginnings of federal oil regulation in the United States. Professor Nordhauser argues that oil executives rather than government officials led the way in the movement for regulation and that their dominant goals were the stabilization of prices and profits.
TL;DR: Badian as discussed by the authors studied the role of publicani in the Roman economy from the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C) to the age of Cicero and Caesar, showing how private enterprise became a dominant factor in the public sector of the economy.
Abstract: As the title of this monograph indicates, the pharisaical identification of the publican as sinner has indelibly attached that stigma to the name at the popular level. This view is further confirmed by textbook references to the improverishment of the rich Asiatic provinces by the publican tax farmers. Professor E. Badian places these impressions in proper perspective and indicates the constructive contributions of the publicani to the Roman economy in impressive detail. He shows how private enterprise became a dominant factor in the public sector of the economy. The word publicani derives from publica, indicating that the publicans dealt with the public property of the Roman people. The subject is developed in historical order beginning with the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.) and continuing through the Gracchan revolution to the age of Cicero and Caesar. At each historical stage Badian shows how the role of the publicani and the equestrian order to which they belonged shifted with changing conditions, especially relative to the senatorial governing oligarchy. Badian's command of the intricate detail and complex relationships of the economic structure of the Roman Republic is impressive. His primary source for the Hannibalic and Macedonian wars is Books 21-45 of Livy. The mid-second century presents difficulties with some help from Polybius and scattered literary and inscriptional sources. For the late Imperial Republic, the political writings and orations of Cicero are fundamental. His interpretations and reconstructions of this difficult material are brilliant. Although a good deal has been written on the publicani, penetrating studies are few. This explains the brief bibliography of this book. Badian works squarely from the primary sources and never hesitates to question his colleagues in the field. For instance, his challenge to Arnold Toynbee's marked liberal approach to economics is a refreshing feature of the book, notably his remarks addressed to Toynbee's interpretation of Polybius at the end of chapter two. With respect to business, the subject of the public companies treated in chapter four is perhaps the most interesting. These may be described as joint-stock companies with limited liability. The chief executive officer was a magister, while the financial backer who provided security (normally landed property) for the execution of the contract was the manceps. The manceps had partners or associates in the company known as socii. In the later Republic, when contracts involving huge sums were made, more than one security (praes) became necessary to guarantee the contract, and even secondary guarantors might be needed. These companies seem to have fallen just short of the modern concept of a corporation as a fictitious legal person with continuing life, although legal personality {corpus) could be bestowed by special grant so that some associations could own property and conduct business like a modern company. How-
TL;DR: The resulting exercise in dollar diplomacy achieved some immediate ends but proved very short-sighted and self-defeating in the end as mentioned in this paper, because both groups shared similar goals and interests in Mexico.
Abstract: Intimate cooperation between American investment bankers and the diplomats of the Department of State occurred in the early 1920s because both groups shared similar goals and interests in Mexico. The resulting exercise in dollar diplomacy achieved some immediate ends but proved very short-sighted and self-defeating in the end.
TL;DR: Hilliard as mentioned in this paper reconstructs the antebellum southern diet by class and race based upon a wide variety of travel accounts, diaries, and agriculturalists' daybooks, and finds the oft-noted reliance upon pork and corn, but these foods were supplemented substantially by game, fish and other seafood, nuts, sweet potatoes, turnips, and peas.
Abstract: Sam Bowers Hilliard has produced a thorough and thoughtful study of antebellum southern foodstuffs production and consumption. The bulk of this volume examines the size and variety of food output and whether this ensured regional self-sufficiency. The most valuable contributions, however, emerge from the chapters concerning food habits, cultural attitudes, and non-agricultural food sources. Although the science of nutrition remained in its infancy during the antebellum decades, the author reconstructs the southern diet by class and race based upon a wide variety of travel accounts, diaries, and agriculturalists' daybooks. From this impressive survey of southern sources, he finds the oft-noted reliance upon pork and corn, but these foods were supplemented substantially by game, fish and other seafood, nuts, sweet potatoes, turnips, and peas. While some variations existed among southern diets, stemming primarily from income differences, southerners as a whole were well-fed. The possible exception was slaves, whose monotonous diet may have been deficient in protein and vitamins. These regional dietary preferences have persisted; today, in the rural South the same food habits predominate.
TL;DR: In this paper, Debouzy argues that since the end of the last century, big business leaders in America have had only to consolidate the political power gathered by the magnates who, according to her, formed the "leading class" during the period under study.
Abstract: about the magnates. She argues that, in order to react against the anti-business writers (for example, Gustavus Myers, Charles Beard, etc.) and the loss of prestige of business, historians at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration began in the 1930s to rehabilitate the historical reputation of the magnates and that this task was pursued during the Cold War by the "revisionists." She criticizes strongly the revisionists' method, which (she indicates) consists of isolating the professional activities of the magnates from the economic and political context and using concepts in social psychology without examining their "ideological foundations" (214). She adds that in the last twenty years, all social, economic, and historical research in the United States has converged toward the defense of status quo and the presentation of the American social system as the best (215). In her conclusion, Debouzy argues that since the end of the last century, big business leaders in America have had only to consolidate the political power gathered by the magnates who, according to her, formed the "leading class" during the period under study. In a footnote (12), Debouzy writes that "the book does not pretend to analyze the evolution of capitalist structure from the point of view of economic history," and in fact she pays little attention to the factors of growth (population, technology, capital formation) of the American economy. Was manpower as abundant as she indicates on pages 199 and 220? One wonders if Debouzy, like those she criticizes, has not given too much importance to the magnates in the evolution of the American economy. Further, it is regrettable that the author ignores the work of Alfred D. Chandler and the new school of business historians. This book, which has an important bibliography, will be especially useful to French students of American history.
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of the acquired earnings after taxes to the safe yield available from tax-exempt municipal bonds at the time of acquisition, and a cash flow analysis is presented.
Abstract: tempt to present a financial analysis of each company's more important acquisitions. Two methods are used: a comparison of the acquired earnings after taxes to the safe yield available from tax-exempt municipal bonds at the time of acquisition, and a cash flow analysis. Neither method, for good reason, can make use of post-acquisition data. I found the acquisition analyses to be the least useful and least persuasive portions of the book, largely because the reasons for making acquisitions and the tests of success include far more complexities than the above relatively simple tests can accommodate. The above methods take no account, for example, of projected or actual changes in earnings or reduction of assets of the acquired company, or of the direct impact on earnings per share or the balance sheets of the parent company, let alone the more intangible factors of entry into certain product areas, tie-ins with other divisions, and so on. The difficulties of evaluating acquisitions by the above criteria can easily be seen from the report itself in the case of a merger Royal Little subsequently claimed was absolutely essential to the building of Textron because of the $75,000,000 or so it eventually provided through tax-loss carryforwards and liquidations. As noted in the report on Textron: \"American Woolen was a company with a load of inherited cash, staggering losses, the sorriest mills in the industry, and no prospects whatever. It was precisely for these reasons that Royal Little set out to make the merger.\
TL;DR: The McLane Report as discussed by the authors is one of the most substantial products of federal preoccupation with the tariff issue and has been a major producer of information to the historian, whatever its costs or benefits to the domestic economy.
Abstract: Although historians will doubtless go on disputing the impact of the tariff upon American economic development as long as they continue to draw breath, one of its benefits has been incontestable: it has been a major producer of information to the historian, whatever its costs or benefits to the domestic economy. The historian is eternally grateful, whatever the attitude of the domestic manufacturer or consumer. The McLane Report is one of the most substantial products of federal preoccupation with the tariff issue. The collection of data was undertaken in 1832 in response to a congressional request for more information in connection with the formulation of tariff legislation. The Report has come to bear the name of President Jackson's Secretary of the Treasury, under whose supervision the data were collected. The Report plays an especially important role because no census of manufactures was undertaken in 1830, owing to the great dissatisfaction with the results of the 1820 census of manufactures. With all its limitations, therefore, it has long been treated by historians with the deference due to "the only show in town." The reprinting of the Report is a most welcome event.
TL;DR: Gilbert as mentioned in this paper describes the industrial state in America from 1880 to 1960, and argues that free trade flourished as a doctrine for a brief time during the mid-period of the nineteenth century when the Pax Britannica held sway.
Abstract: taken into account, protectionism is not so irrational as Professor Ratnef might suppose. Free trade flourished in fact, and as a doctrine for a brief time during the mid-period of the nineteenth century when the Pax Britannica held sway — rather special historical circumstances, one might conclude. The role of the historian is to recapture the past, but not to encourage us to live in it. One thing taken with another, the book offers a lot of information in a highly accessible form, and should be a welcome addition to most personal libraries. « » a DESIGNING THE INDUSTRIAL STATE: THE INTELLECTUAL PURSUIT OF COLLECTIVISM IN AMERICA, 1880-1960. By James Gilbert. Chicago, Quadrangle Books, 1972. Ppvii + 335. $10.00.
TL;DR: While events of major significance for banking occurred on the national scene in the populist and progressive years, noteworthy changes also materialized on the state level as mentioned in this paper, where California bankers struggled through their organizations with such problems as how to achieve "sound banking, how to influence the political process in their state, and how to give banking more of the trappings of professionalism.
Abstract: While events of major significance for banking occurred on the national scene in the populist and progressive years, noteworthy changes also materialized on the state level. Like their brethren elsewhere in the country, California bankers struggled through their organizations with such problems as how to achieve “sound banking,” how to influence the political process in their state, and how to give banking more of the trappings of professionalism.
TL;DR: Two opposing groups of business interests, large, internationally oriented financiers and local businessmen and small manufacturers, engaged in economically-based political conflict over the proper nature of the federal system in early twentieth-century Canada as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Two opposing groups of business interests — large, internationally-oriented financiers on the one hand and local businessmen and small manufacturers on the other — engaged in economically-based political conflict over the proper nature of the federal system in early twentieth-century Canada. The national financial community proved unable to protect its conception of private property rights by legal and political means at the national level, and the resulting victory of provincial rather than federal control over property rights made possible the creation of a publicly owned hydro-electric system in Ontario.
TL;DR: The book makes clear the tragic waste of the talents of the Black citizens of the U.S. and destroys the charming myth that the founders' willingness to pay the first claims from their own pockets insured the firm's success.
Abstract: and presumably had more influence. The book makes clear the tragic waste of the talents of the Black citizens of the U.S. The ability to recruit capable but underemployed Negroes for key positions was a key to the firm's success. It also destroys the charming myth that the founders' willingness to pay the first claims from their own pockets insured the firm's success. If the book is accepted as social, not business history, and its limitations in time and location are understood, it is a worthwhile effort. For the student of Black business activity, it is an extremely useful sourcebook. In both areas, however, additional coverage would have greatly improved it. a » «