Baptists, Quakers and a Healing Controversy in the Lincolnshire Wolds

In the early 1670s a brief ‘pamphlet war’ flared up between General Baptist and Quakers following an incident of claimed divine healing a few years earlier in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The incident serves to illustrate the intense rivalry between these two groups at the time and provides some details of their respective thinking about healing and cursing. It is also of interest because of the origins of Thomas Grantham, who lived and worked in this district, and who was a contemporary of those involved.

The Impact of the First World War on International Business edited by Andrew Smith, Simon Mollan and Kevin D. Tennent. Routledge, London, 2017, xii + 274 pp., £140 (hardback), ISBN 978-1138930032

In the Shadow of War and Empire: Industrialisation, Nation-Building, and Working-Class Politics in Turkey by Görkem Akgöz. Brill, Leiden, 2023, xviii, 374 pp., €129.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-90-04-41674-1; Open Access (paperback), ISBN 978-90-04-68714-1

Resilience in conflict: Venetian merchants and the dynamics of trade in wartime in the Renaissance

This study examines the interplay between warfare and commerce in Renaissance Italy, focusing on Venetian trading companies during the Ottoman War (1463–79) and the War of Ferrara (1482–84). Through historical accounts, including accounting records and merchant letters, it demonstrates their strategic adaptability to wartime trade disruptions. The study focuses on the utilisation of temporary commodity chains, particularly in the context of woollen cloth, and the role of intermediaries in leveraging local resources to meet international demand. These measures not only ensured the maintenance of trade flows but also served as provisional tactics until conflicts were resolved, thereby demonstrating the merchants’ resilience and flexibility in dealing with the challenges posed by warfare. This research provides insights into the enduring trade networks facilitated by Venetian merchants’ adaptability during times of conflict.

Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War

The relative success of the Danish and failure of the Irish dairy industries before the First World War is often contrasted. The traditional narrative assumes that the Irish failed because they were unsuccessful at adopting cooperative ownership, and that Irish cooperatives were not as efficient as their Danish counterparts, despite having been explicitly modelled on them. This is, however, untested at the ‘firm’ level. We rectify this through the analysis of a large microlevel database of creameries in both countries over the period 1898–1903. Using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), a standard methodology in modern productivity studies, we find that Irish creameries were in fact slightly more efficient on average than their Danish counterparts, although with a larger variance. This nuances the idea that the Irish were unable to establish cooperatives successfully, although some creameries were certainly laggards, and the reputational cost of this might have impacted the industry.

Kicking away the ladder? Trade, technology transfer, and Chinese-East German disputes on the development of precision mechanics and optical industry

The German Democratic Republic (GDR), an industrial socialist nation known for its optical industry, particularly VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, was China’s primary supplier of optical lenses and equipment during the Cold War. Economic and technological negotiations between China and the GDR frequently centred on the optical industry. While China aimed to advance its optical sector, the GDR sought to maintain the status quo and boost exports by proposing a division of labour—reminiscent of pre-socialist imperialist and capitalist policies. However, China’s communist leaders rejected this approach, insisting on building a self-sufficient industrial system. Despite criticism that the GDR’s policy aimed to limit China’s development, optical exports to China remained strong through the late 1960s. Mao’s rejection of the GDR’s proposal and resistance to production cooperation ultimately hindered China’s optical industry growth and strained economic cooperation within the socialist bloc during this period.

Why are corporations terminated? A century of evidence from the Netherlands

We identify all 196 Dutch exchange-listed corporations that halted their operations and ceased to exist between 1903 and 1996. We then explain these terminations using unique hand-collected accounting and governance data and regression techniques suited to long-run comparative analysis. Although Dutch bankruptcy laws remained unchanged across the twentieth century, patterns of corporate exit shifted markedly: shareholder-induced voluntary liquidations predominated before WWII, while creditor-driven bankruptcies became the norm thereafter. Our analyses suggest this transformation reflected a broader redefinition of corporate purpose, from a liberal shareholder-centric model before WWII, to a stakeholder-focused paradigm that emerged among Dutch business leaders in the post-war period. We further find that the Dutch government’s industrial policy initiatives in the 1970s did not succeed in reducing corporate failures. Our findings underscore how shifts in corporate purpose can fundamentally reshape business outcomes, even in the absence of formal legal changes.

From imposition to concession, from compliance to resistance: Creating a Harvard Business School clone in a Turkish university, 1954–1965

Drawing on archival sources, this study traces the early history of the ‘Turkish Institute of Business Administration’, established in 1954 within the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University with Ford Foundation (FF) funding and Harvard Business School (HBS) guidance. The historical narrative describes what transpired on both the American and Turkish sides during this FF-HBS-initiated and directed transfer process. Through this account, the article contributes to the literature on post-World War II American influence on business education in three ways: First, it highlights how direct American interventions were shaped by who in the United States was involved, and when . Second, it demonstrates how tensions and power relations between the FF and HBS influenced both the direction and the outcome of the transfer. Finally, the process-based account shows how and why the reception of an imposed American model involved both full adoption and some significant deviations.

An entrepreneurial turf war: Travel agencies, ICEM, and the migration industry since the 1950s

This article examines the role of travel and migration agencies since the 1950s, focusing on managing migration from Europe to overseas countries of the West. It explores the business practices of travel agents, emphasising their relationship with the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM), an international organisation managing subsidised overseas migration of Europe’s so-called ‘surplus of population’ since 1952. Travel agencies viewed ICEM as both a competitor and an opportunity to diversify their business profits. The evolution of this relationship is researched within the context of the migration industry, highlighting the connection between migration governance and capitalist forces, business interests and power dynamics. The article draws on extensive archival material about business–government relations, corruption, and human mobility, sourced from states, international organisations, the press, and personal oral interviews.

Our Humanity at Risk: Statement on War and the Vulnerability of Children