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Social capital, institutional innovation and Atlantic trade before 1800

Pearson, Robin; Richardson, David

Authors

David Richardson



Abstract

The growth of the Atlantic economy during the eighteenth century has been associated with developments in business networking to mitigate the hazards of communication in long-distance trade. Such social capital-based mechanisms reduced transaction costs, but also proved to have their limitations in the changing conditions of eighteenth-century international trade. This paper argues, using the example of the British slave trade, that efforts to innovate less personalised forms of commercial exchange gave those prepared to do so a considerable competitive advantage, and promoted the unprecedented expansion of that trade between 1750 and 1807. We suggest that this shift may be viewed as a precursor of modernising tendencies in business practice in Britain during the industrial revolution.

Citation

Pearson, R., & Richardson, D. (2008). Social capital, institutional innovation and Atlantic trade before 1800. Business history, 50(6), 765-780. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076790802420336

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Nov 6, 2008
Publication Date 2008-11
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Journal Business History
Print ISSN 0007-6791
Electronic ISSN 1743-7938
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 50
Issue 6
Article Number PII 905115013
Pages 765-780
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/00076790802420336
Keywords Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous); Business and International Management; History
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/460478