“Giants of an Earlier Capitalism”: The Chartered Trading Companies as Modern Multinationals

Abstract

Much has been written about late-nineteenth-century multinationals and their relationship to the transnational firms of the present, but both historians and economists have largely discounted the relevance of the earlier chartered trading companies to this discussion. In an article emphasizing transaction cost analysis and the theory of the firm, Professors Carlos and Nicholas argue that the trading companies did meet the criteria of the modern MNE—the growth of a managerial hierarchy necessitated by a large volume of transactions and of systems to control those managers over space and time.

Closing doors (1780-1813): the liquidation process at General Company of Pernambuco and Paraíba

“…This behavior was favored by the absence of three elements: the effective control of the king, the shareholder powerlessness, and the independence principle. These findings are consistent with previous studies (Carlos & Nicholas, 1988Carlos, 1992;Dibadj, 2011;Gelderblom et al, 2011;Jongh, 2011;Nordenflych, 2011) The agency problem of the PPC could have been lessened, for example, by transferring more rights to shareholders. However, this would require changes in the Charter of the PPC.…”

“…As at the PPC, others European chartered companies also had similar agency problems (Carlos & Nicholas, 1988Carlos, 1992;Dibadj, 2011;Gelderblom et al, 2011;Jongh, 2011;Nordenflych, 2011;Philips, 1961). According to Costa and Rocha (2007), even the existence of kinship ties prevented the occurrence of agency problems between traders involved with the gold shipment from Brazil to Portugal in the mid-eighteenth century.…”

An Archaeology of Capitalism: Exploring Ideology through Ceramics from the Fort Vancouver and Village Sites

“…The Chief Factor also managed the day-to-day operations and oversaw the workers, or Servants at these factories (Mackay 1938: 47;Bryce 1968;Carlos and Nicholas 1988).…”

“…The HBC carefully cultivated the appearance of the fort, the buildings therein and its garden, creating a disparity between the wild land surrounding the fort, and the ordered environment within its influence, that naturalized the ways in which the European capitalists had exploited the landscape of North America throughout the previous centuries in order to amass financial and political gains (Carlos 1988(Carlos , 1990Hammond 1993). Examination of the English garden at the fort recalls Leone's study of the ways in which the layout of the city underscored the ideology of individualism that masked the realities of inequality throughout it (Leone 1984(Leone , 1987(Leone , 1988(Leone , 2005Leone et al 1989Leone et al , 2005.…”

“…The Hudson's Bay Company came into being during a period of dramatic economic development when joint-stock and chartered trading companies first appeared in Europe (Bryce 1968;Carlos and Nicholas 1988). While royally chartered companies had been an accepted trading structure for more than a century, it was during the 16th and 17th centuries that their form became more rigid, including monopoly privileges as well as imperial powers under the blessing of the Crown (Mackay 1938: 37 (Schenk 1932;Bryce 1968;Morrison 1999).…”