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07 Dec 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Oral History and Writing the Business History of Emerging Markets

by Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

                          Oral history is a valuable resource to explore how businesses developed and functioned in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, regions with a growing share of global economic activity and the majority of the world’s population. While oral history is not uncritical, it...

2018
Working Paper

Oral History and Writing the Business History of Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

This working paper highlights the benefits that rigorous use of oral history can offer to research on the contemporary business history of emerging markets. Oral history can help fill some of the major information voids arising from the absence of a strong tradition of...

Australian Economic History Review

Business, Governments and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America since 1970

By: G. Jones and Rachael Comunale

This article contributes to the literature on political risk in business and economic history by examining both new perspectives (risk encountered by companies domestically, rather than risk for foreign investors) and new settings (emerging markets economies in Latin...

20 Sep 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Did Entrepreneur Ernesto Tornquist Help or Hurt Argentina?

Re: Geoffrey G. Jones

                          Geoffrey Jones examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century.

August 2018
Case

Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas & The American Hat Factory

By: Steven Rogers and Ariel Rogers

On a sunny Monday morning, Rev. Morgan-Thomas walked into her newly acquired hat factory thinking, “What have I gotten myself into? Things are worse than I imagined. Can I ever turn this company around given all of the known and unknown problems? Can I make it...

2018
Working Paper

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of Latin America during the globalization waves between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much wealth for the region,...

2018
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient

Revenue Farming Reconsidered: Tenurial Rights and Tenurial Duties in Early Modern India, ca. 1556–1818

By: Sudev J Sheth

The meaning of land revenue farming in Indian history has eluded consensus. Some view it as an administrative aberration indicating weak state control, while others see it as a strategy for consolidating authority. This essay traces the historical development of iq ā...

Jun19

19 Jun 2018
Research Event

Has Environmental Sustainability Lost its Relevance?

by Geoffrey G. Jones

                          Companies have thought for decades about business-focused solutions to fix the deteriorating environment. But judging by continually rising waters and temperatures, we may need a rethink about what sustainability means, suggest participants at a recent conference at...

21 May 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Business, Governments, and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America Since 1970

by Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

                          This study shows how perceptions of political risk by business leaders in emerging markets have differed between regions. For Latin Americans, macroeconomic and policy turbulence were the biggest sources of risk. For South Asians, excessive bureaucracy was the biggest...

16 May 2018
Research & Ideas

How Companies Managed Risk (and Even Benefitted) in World War Internment Camps

by Julia Hanna

                          Foreign businesses located in at-war countries are often victims of expropriation. Historian Valeria Giacomin explores how German businesses in the United Kingdom and India mitigated risk and even benefitted when their employees were placed in internment camps during...

2018
Working Paper

Business, Governments and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America since 1970

By: Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

This working paper provides a new perspective on how businesses have responded to political risk in South Asia and Latin America over the last half century. The existing business history literature on political risk is focused on the experiences of Western...

April 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Coco Chanel: From Fashion Icon to Nazi Agent

By: Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean

This case describes the career of the iconic French fashion designer Coco Chanel who created a transformational business during the first half of the 20th century. Beginning in her early adulthood, Chanel leveraged relationships with acquaintances, friends, and...