The Exchange

The 2013 Asia-Pacific Economic and Business History Conference will meet at Seoul National University on February 14-16, 2013. The conference is organized in cooperation with the Institute of Economic Research (Seoul National University), the Korean Economic History Society , and the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand (EHSANZ) . The preliminary program for the meeting has now been posted.       Two sessions focus particularly on business history: Session 10 : Business History (I) Janette Rutterford (Open University, UK) and Leslie Hannah (London School of Economics, UK): ‘The twentieth century “democratic” ownership revolution: Anglo-American trajectories’ Yitaek Park (Korea University, South Korea): ‘Corporate accounting control and corporate governance structure in wartime Japan’ Raul Fabella (University of The Philippines): ‘Wipeout: Sangley mercantile dominance and persistence in the Spanish colonial period in The Philippines’ S...

The International Association for Railway History/Association internationale pour l'histoire des Chemins de Fer/Asociatión Internactional de Historia Ferroviaria will hold its 5th congress on September 12-13, 2013, in Santiago de Chile. The theme of the meeting will be "Railways in Latin America: History and Legacy (19th – 20th century)." According to the organizers, Latin America is one of the regions where the railway system developed rapidly in the nineteenth century. Latin American specialization in trade and export by using the railway system became the primary means for transporting and extracting raw materials and intermediate products from the interior to the ports of the Atlantic, Pacific and the Caribbean sea, going to European or USA markets. . . . The purpose of the IRHA conference is to debate from a historical point of view the railway system's contribution for the whole region and also individual countries. Interested candidates must send a propos...

Patricio Saiz and Rafael Castro are organizing a session on the history of branding for the next meeting of the Spanish Economic HistoryAssociation (Asociación Española de Historia Económica—AEHA), which will be held at the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF)‐Madrid, September 11-12, 2014. Their call for papers for a session titled "Brand and Its History: Economic, Business and Social Value" follows: Currently, brands play a significant role in developed societies. A thorough analysis of the impact of trademarks and branding on citizens, firms and economy requires taking into account a historical approach. Brand value has been analyzed from different scientific perspectives such as those from marketing, accounting, and economic or social studies. Notwithstanding, there are key and significant issues still not addressed or poorly analyzed. From the seminal work of Wilkins (1992) focusing on the role of trademarking in the evolution of large corporations an...

The Pingyau Forum on the "History and Evolution of Entrepreneurship and Finance in China" will meet August 23-24, 2013. As the organizers explain: . . .  research of business issues in China is attracting increasing attention from academics, practitioners, and policy makers. In the past few years, we witnessed a surge of publications in high quality international academic journals on contemporary business issues of China. However, although today the private business sector plays an important role in the nation’s economic strength, the history and evolution of entrepreneurship and corporate finance in China remain largely under-examined. Given the unique historical and cultural background of China, we believe such research will contribute to the business history literature that is currently still largely focused on the experiences of Western countries. Such studies could yield interesting insights that could contribute to theories and our understanding of business issues ...

The Biddle Law Library at the University of Pennsylvania is the home of the National Bankruptcy Archives . According to the website, In October 2000, the Biddle Law Library and the American College of Bankruptcy collaborated to create a special collection entitled the National Bankruptcy Archives (NBA), a national repository of materials relating to the history of debtor-creditor relations, bankruptcy and the reorganization of debt. The NBA collects records from the American College of Bankruptcy as well as from other organizations whose activities have been relevant to the history of bankruptcy and insolvency legislation, regulation, and administrative and judicial determination. The NBA also houses papers of individuals who have influenced the field, and other collections documenting the history of bankruptcy law. The site provides finding aids, a listing of individuals and groups whose papers are held, relevant additional holdings, and a video on the scope and use of the ma...

The preliminary program for the 2013 BHC annual meeting has now been posted on the website. The theme for this year's conference is "The Cultures and Institutions of Business." The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Columbus in Columbus, Ohio, on March 21-23. The hotel reservation and meeting registration links are also in operation. We routinely post abstracts of all the papers presented; that section will be open shortly. We will of course update the website as more information becomes available.

The Business History Forum speaker series at Columbia University is presented by the Rare Book & Manuscript Library and the Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History , with additional co-sponsors for individual sessions. All events are free and open to the public but require registration at cul-events@ columbia.edu . All sessions take place on Columbia University’s campus in 523 butler Library from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted. The spring schedule presents: February 11 Kurt Schuler, Senior Fellow, Center for Financial Stability; Economist, U.S. Department of the Treasury “The Bretton Woods Transcripts: New Findings” March 11 Guy Gugliotta, author of Freedom's Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War “The Business of Building the United States Capitol” April 10 Charles Bagli, The New York Times “Other People’s Money: Inside the Housing Crisis and the Demise of the Greatest Real Estate Deal Ever Made” April 16 Naomi R. Lam...

The German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., is now accepting applications for a fellowship in International Business History for up to five months with a term beginnng after April 1, 2013. Preference will be given to fellows whose projects fit into the GHI's research foci on transatlantic relations and the history of consumption. Comparative work is also strongly encouraged.    The fellow will be expected to be in residence at the GHI and participate in GHI activities and events. The fellow will have the opportunity to make use of the resources in the Washington, D.C., area, including the Library of Congress and the National Archives, while pursuing his or her own research agenda. Travel within the United States to work in other archives and libraries will also be possible.    The monthly stipend is €1,700 for doctoral students from European institutions; students based at North American institutions will receive a stipend of $1,900. In addition, fello...

The Business History Seminar sponsored by the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) at Erasmus University in Rotterdam has posted the roster of speakers for its Spring 2013 program. Presenters include Alfred Reckendrees, Francesca Polese, Regina Blaszczyk, and Mark Spoerer.     The site also includes the schedule for previous talks, covering 2009-2012; abstracts for the presentations are available and, in several cases, full text of the papers as well. The Seminar is coordinated by Abe de Jong and Ben Wubs.

The Economic History Society has made available videos of the Tawney Memorial Lecture , beginning in 2007. The most recent talk posted is that for 2012, when Sir Roderick Floud delivered a lecture entitled  "Historian, measure thyself! Innovation in the social sciences and economic history." Other available lectures are those by Joachim Voth, Jane Humphries, Bob Allen, Bruce M. S. Campbell, and Cormac O'Grada. Readers may also wish to consult the transcript of a 2008 interview with Sir Roderick on "Making History."    

A conference on "Coping with Crisis: Re-Evaluating the Role of Crises in Economic and Social History" will convene on July 26-28, 2013, at Collingwood College, Durham University. According to the call for papers , The theme of crisis has been a ubiquitous analytical concept for historians from Marxist theories of structural change in society to anthropometric history. Different forms of crisis have been explored in nearly every strand of history, ranging from agrarian famines to epidemiological outbreaks, and from financial collapses to disasters precipitated by conflict and trade disputes. Coping with Crisis will bring together researchers exploring various forms of economic and social crises across traditional time periods to generate a greater understanding of the meaning and usefulness of the term crisis within history. Proposals for 20-minute papers or panels of three papers exploring crisis across traditional time periods are welcome. Please send a title and a...

On January 31, 2013, the Higher Education Academy in the UK will hold a workshop on "Teaching Economic and Business History in the 21st Century" ; it will take place in the Stirling Room of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, Scotland. The organizers hope the workshop will "provide a forum to consider the extent to which economic and business history modules can be used to enhance the teaching and learning experience of undergraduates studying in UK business schools as well as that of their counterparts reading history in arts and humanities or social sciences departments." Please see the workshop site for the full program and a link to the registration form.