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Social capital, institutional innovation and Atlantic trade before 1800

Author

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  • Robin Pearson
  • 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Robin Pearson & David Richardson, 2008. "Social capital, institutional innovation and Atlantic trade before 1800," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 765-780.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:50:y:2008:i:6:p:765-780
    DOI: 10.1080/00076790802420336
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hong & Hoang Thi Lich & Bui Thi Thanh Nga, 2017. "The Social Investment Capital and the Cargo Volume Transported by Sea: A VAR Approach for Vietnam," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 1(2), pages 1-9, September.
    2. Sahle, Esther, 2014. "Quakers, coercion and pre-modern growth: why friends’ formal institutions for contract enforcement did not matter for early Atlantic trade expansion," Economic History Working Papers 60452, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    3. Albin Skog & Örjan Sölvell, 2020. "The dark side of agglomeration, sustained wealth and transposition of trading institutions—the case of Bordeaux in the 18th and 19th centuries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 67-91.
    4. Esther Sahle, 2018. "Quakers, coercion, and pre†modern growth: why Friends’ formal institutions for contract enforcement did not matter for early modern trade expansion," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(2), pages 418-436, May.
    5. Hameeda A. AlMalki & Christopher M. Durugbo, 2023. "Systematic review of institutional innovation literature: towards a multi-level management model," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 731-785, June.

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