This study of Australian business institutions and practices places the rise of big business in Australia in a comparative context through a study of its 100 largest firms in the first six and a half decades of the 20th century. Unlike many of the wealthy economies of the northern hemisphere, Australia's lists of the 100 largest firms were dominated up to World War II by those from the resource and service industries. The high levels of foreign direct investment in the resources and manufacturing industries is also highlighted. Other chapters employ 21st-century theories of the firm to explore business behaviour in more depth.

In this 10th volume of the economic history of colonial NSW, the matter of population growth is reviewed, with population gains coming from favorable economic drivers and economic cycles, exploration, immigration, natural increase and British investment. The historical approach to Statistical Data gathering, its origins and reliability, is outlined as are the statistics used and their interpretation. The early musters (of convicts) is discussed together with commentary on the supporting datas derived from the numbers of convicts 'on the store'. With the Aboriginal economy outperforming the white colony from 1788 to the early 1820s, the operation of the Aboriginal economy is also discussed and the circumstances of its depopulation. Adding to the population history is a statement that traditional reporting of the history is: *Britain settled the continent for ;'strategic' advantages and to find a source of raw materials for its industries, as well as being an outlet for its trading and a takeover of local resources under its expanding economic system. *Economic development took place in their new colony, beneficial mainly to British interests including, industry, trade, insurance and investment. As important as trade and investment became to the new colony, the main aspect of the population history is the transfer of human capital in the form of over 160,000 convicted persons under a transportation program from the United Kingdom.