Going the distance: Eurasian trade and the rise of the business corporation, 1400-1700

Environment and trade

Theoretical frameworks for analyzing the development of institutions in interaction with their environment

Universal building blocks : itinerant traders, family firms, ships, and basic contracts

Varying organizational building blocks : three institutions, three paths of migration (sea loan, funduq/caravanserai, and commenda)

The commenda (features, origins, migration, modifications)

Family firms in three regions

Merchant networks

Trade by rulers and states

The origins of the business corporation

The Dutch East India Company

The English East India Company

Why did the corporation only evolve in Europe?