As the global economic crisis that developed in the year 2008 makes clear, it is essential for educated individuals to understand the history that underlies contemporary economic developments. This encyclopedia will offer students and scholars access to information about the concepts, institutions/organizations, events, and individuals that have shaped the history of economics, business, and labor from the origins of what later became the United States in an earlier age of globalization and the expansion of capitalism to the present. It will include entries that explore the changing character of capitalism from the seventeenth century to the present; that cover the evolution of business practices and organizations over the same time period; that describe changes in the labor force as legally free workers replaced a labor force dominated by slaves and indentures; that treat the means by which workers sought to better their lives; and that deal with government policies and practices that affected economic activities, business developments, and the lives of working people. Readers will be able to find readily at hand information about key economic concepts and theories, major economists, diverse sectors of the economy, the history of economic and financial crises, major business organizations and their founders, labor organizations and their leaders, and specific government policies and judicial rulings that have shaped US economic and labor history. Readers will also be guided to the best and most recent scholarly works related to the subject covered by the entry. Because of the broad chronological span covered by the encyclopedia and the breadth of its subjects, it should prove useful to history students, economics majors, school of business entrants as well as to those studying public policy and administration.

This 2003 book offered the first in-depth international survey of contemporary research and debates in business history. Over the two decades leading to its publication, enormous advances had been made in writing the history of business enterprise and business systems. Historians are documenting and analyzing the evolution of a wide range of important companies and systems, their patterns of innovation, production, and distribution, their financial affairs, their political activities, and their social impact. Each essay is written by a prominent authority who provides an assessment of the state and significance of research in his or her area. This volume is a reference work that will be of immense value to historians, economists, management researchers, and others concerned to access the latest insights on the evolution of business throughout the world.

German economic history in the industrial age has classically formed an important basis for the study of economic growth and industrialisation more generally. This book aims to introduce English-language readers to modern German economic history based on a selection of work by one of Germany's leading economic and business historians, Werner Plumpe, who places particular emphasis on the institutional structure of the economy. Plumpe's work demonstrates that the country's economic evolution can only be understood by paying close attention to institutional peculiarities, such as the shape of industrial relations and the dynamics of corporate decision-making. It also emphasises the importance of the interconnectedness of capital and labour in the German coordinated market economy and draws attention to individual events and decisions that may have driven long-term economic development, but are rarely considered in approaches that deal primarily with macroeconomic growth. German Economic and Business History in the 19th and 20th Century shows that Germany's economic history still warrants the application of an institutional view of economic transformation that is slightly different from the more formal perspectives dominant in the UK and the US. The book serves as a practical demonstration of a historicist approach to economic history introduced by the German Historical School a century ago, which still inspires large parts of German economic historiography./div

This three volume work offers a comprehensive survey of the history of economic activity and economic change in the United States, and in those regions whose economies have at certain times been closely allied to that of the US.

In recent decades, private investment has led to an economic resurgence in India. But this is not the first time the region has witnessed impressive business growth. There have been many similar stories over the past 300 years. India's economic history shows that capital was relatively expensive. How, then, did capitalism flourish in the region? How did companies and entrepreneurs deal with the shortage of key resources? Has there been a common pattern in responses to these issues over the centuries? Through detailed case studies of firms, entrepreneurs, and business commodities, Tirthankar Roy answers these questions. Roy bridges the approaches of business and economic history, illustrating the development of a distinctive regional capitalism. On each occasion of growth, connections with the global economy helped firms and entrepreneurs better manage risks. Making these deep connections between India's economic past and present shows why history matters in its remaking of capitalism today.

This book aims to introduce readers to the important macroeconomic events of the past two hundred years. It explains what went on and why during the most significant economic epochs of the nineteenth, twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and how where we are today fits in this historical timeline.

From the colonial era to the present day, small businesses have been an integral part of American life. First published in 1991 and now thoroughly revised and updated, A History of Small Business in America explores the central but ever-changing role played by small enterprises in the nation's economic, political, and cultural development. Examining small businesses in manufacturing, sales, services, and farming, Mansel Blackford argues that while small firms have always been important to the nation's development, their significance has varied considerably in different time periods and in different segments of our economy. Throughout, he relates small business development to changes in America's overall business and economic systems and offers comparisons between the growth of small business in the United States to its development in other countries. He places special emphasis on the importance of small business development for women and minorities. Unique in its breadth, this book provides the only comprehensive overview of these significant topics.