‘The rules of the game’: London finance,Australia, and Canada,c.1900–14

It is often asserted that, between 1865 and 1914, economic dependence on British capital subjected settler societies to an unofficial imperialism wielded by the City of London. This article argues that both advocates and critics of such models, particularly in the recent controversy over ‘gentlemanly capitalism’, pay insufficient attention to the City itself. Using the Edwardian City's connections with Australia and Canada, it illustrates the range of financial intermediaries involved and explores their perceptions of political economy in these countries. It concludes that the City's influence (or ‘structural power’) was limited by its internal divisions and hazy conceptions of political economy.     

Managers, Workers, and Industrial Welfarism: Management Strategies at ER&S and the Sulphide Corporation, 1895—1929

This article is a comparative analysis of the labour management strategies of two base metal refineries: the Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company of Australia (ER&S), Port Kembla, and the Sulphide Corporation, Cockle Creek. During the period 1895—1930 both companies adopted aspects of an industrial welfarist strategy but at different times and in different forms. ER&S developed a broad-ranging industrial welfarism that included workplace and community-based initiatives such as cooperative stores and benefit funds. Long-term financial security, inaccessibility to outside labour, and interest in North American developments propelled ER&S's interest in welfarism. The Sulphide Corporation was less interested in such long-term strategies. The smelter at Cockle Creek was more marginal to the Corporation's business and had less secure markets. The British-owned company was also influenced by a dominant British tradition of management that was less interventionist and less experimental. However, following major economic and political reorganization of the industry brought about by the onset of war in 1914 the Corporation slowly came around to 'on the job' welfarism by 1919. A comparison of these two firms can isolate the specific and general factors that account for this management diversity. Furthermore, it highlights how particular management styles such as industrial welfarism had implications beyond the workplace to the towns and communities where workers lived.     

‘Crooks,thieves, and receivers’: transaction costs in nineteenth‐century industrial Birmingham1

The existence of cooperation and trust between competing economic agents is taken for granted by much of the literature on industrial districts. This article explores the structure of the Birmingham jewellery‐making district and the problems created by the opportunistic behaviour of many of its members. Archival sources show that the district was plagued by endemic dishonesty and that proximity did not generate trust and cooperation. The absence of barriers to entry into the trade created a district where social sanctions could not be used to reduce moral hazard. All these factors threatened to destroy the district during the crisis of the 1880s. The article shows how firms joined together to create the Birmingham Jewellers Association, to establish and enforce ‘rules of the game’, with the aim of reducing transaction costs.     

Routines, capabilities and the growth of the firm: Messrs. Ross & Glendining, Dunedin, 1862–1900

Evolutionary economists have suggested that the technical and organisational routines of individual firms play a similar role to genes in biological organisms. Unlike biological organisms, however, firms are supposedly able to engage in purposive adaptation and select out those routines that best enable them to adapt and grow in a changing environment. This thesis is tested by examining the way in which routines assisted the growth of a leading New Zealand enterprise. It concludes that while routines were helpful in enabling the enterprise to expand its core business, they were of little assistance when the management wished to diversify into new and dissimilar activities.     

Gender,life cycle,and family ‘strategies’ among the poor: the Barcelona workhouse, 1762–1805

Poor relief has received less attention from historians of southern Europe compared with northern Europe. This article seeks to challenge the frequent assumption that the strength of family ties in southern Europe mitigated the need for welfare provision. It provides new data for men and boys entering the Barcelona workhouse in the period 1780–1803, and compares these with data from an earlier study of women and girls who entered the same institution over the period 1762–1805. We establish the characteristics of those who sought relief in terms of age, place of origin, marital status, and occupation. We use the information on reasons for entry and exit to ascertain family circumstances. We show that there were significant differences between males and females in terms of why they entered and left, and length of stay, particularly among the elderly. The bulk of the population of the workhouse, however, was comprised of children and adolescents. For this group, entry into the workhouse represented not just a temporary solution to life cycle poverty and periodic unemployment, but also a longer‐term strategy aimed at smoothing entry into the labour market.