John G. B. Hutchins

Business History, Entrepreneurial History, and Business Administration

T HE Economic History Association is an interdisciplinary organization of widely varying interests. The Association has several times considered the relationships between Economic Theory and Economic History, but it has paid little attention to that between the applied field of Business Administration and Economic History. It is appropriate to do so now because significant special interests have arisen within and around Economic History in recent years which have been of particular interest to students of Business Administration. I refer to the studies in Business History, Entrepreneurial History, Economic Development, and Innovation. Like Economic History, Business Administration is interdisciplinary, at least in part, and relies considerably, though at the applied level, on the same fundamental social sciences that interest economic historians. Also we have seen an outpouring of histories of individual enterprises, as American business, once more proud of its accomplishments and increasingly conscious of the value of public relations, has sat for its portrait. At the same time, in the field of Business Administration there has been a growing recognition of the importance of the long-range view in appraising administration, and of the use of the social sciences to improve its quality. It therefore is time to attempt some integration of these strands of thought. Several questions appear to be of particular importance. What is the relationship between Economic History and its children, Business History, Entrepreneurial History, Economic Development, and Innovation? On a larger scale, how are these subjects related to Business Administration, and particularly to its subdivision usually called Business Policy Formulation? If entrepreneurship is of interest from the broad analytical point of view, is it also of concern from the operational one, and if so, how can it be taught or otherwise developed? How well designed for use as long-range case studies in Business Administration are the objective and critical histories of business firms with which we are familiar? Are such studies of substantial value when they concern enterprises distant in time and place and within environments strange to modern leadership? Is there any apparatus by means of which the record of any particular historical administration can be appraised? Is the historical study of enterprise of value in the cur-

The Declining American Maritime Industries: An Unsolved Problem, 1860–1940

THE phenomenon of change lies at the core of economic and business history. Otherwise, in common with other branches of economics, we would be engaged in the dull task of describing and explaining the static state of the classical and neoclassical theorists. The historical economist deals with the field of dynamic economics on the largest possible scale. Furthermore, unlike the theorists of dynamic economics, he is under obligation to deal with actual situations as they have arisen, and to reach judgments in the light of all-important observable factors. This is a difficult assignment. The historical economist must therefore have an elaborate tool kit of practical theories of economic change. As in the present, so also in the past, the economic world moves on, generating facts and events in the greatest profusion, but these data can be linked in a meaningful manner only by the most rigorous reasoning. This is not the place for a fully developed theory of economic development, but a few remarks are indispensable. In brief, the evolution of any national economy must be considered as a process of dynamic adaptationto use the terminology of Abbott Payson Usher-to new basic determinants of economic structure. These determinants may be classified under the headings of land and natural resources, power resources, technological processes, and the concepts and arts of public and private management. Innovations in one or more of these general categories may be expected to set in motion a process of adjustment which is of primary interest to the historical economist. Furthermore, the process of adjustment, which often involves the size of specific industries, the localization of production and of population, and the distribution of human resources among trades and occupations, does not necessarily result in a smooth approach to the new position. Marked shortages and surpluses in particular sectors appear from time to time due to the unavoidable accelerations and decelerations in some of the stages in the vertical structure of industry, and in addition to errors in judgment both public and private. Many of these situations are greatly in need of further examination.

Recent Contributions to Business History: The United States

In the last two decades or so a new field of teaching and research, business history, has made its appearance. Like other fields of interdisciplinary origin it remains ill defined, and its literature exhibits the many points of view of its devotees, among whom are to be found historians, economists, students of administration, corporate officers, public relations men, and free-lance writers in search of drama. Consequently, we find wide variations in both analytical quality and historical accuracy and balance among the works. Very few of the studies approach the ideal of blending detailed historical investigation, meaningful analysis, and effective presentation, yet many nonetheless have marked interest. In this paper I shall endeavor, not to note in a comprehensive manner the many works, but rather to comment on how some of them have illuminated certain aspects of economic history, economics, and administration.

The American Shipping Industry since 1914

In 1914 the United States had tess than 5 per cent of the merchant shipping tonnage of the world; in 1952 it had 32 per cent of a vastly larger world tonnage, although its basic competitive disadvantages had probably increased in the intervening years. This enormous growth of the American fleet resulted from the changes in public policy which accompanied a new view of the American role in world affairs. This article analyzes the major developments in the American merchant marine, both deep-sea and coastwise, since World War I.

The motor vehicle and the return of personalized transport

The modern transport revolution has two features—the development of low‐cost bulk transport by rail and water and the rise of personalized motor service for packaged freight and passengers. The latter system is now becoming mature in the United States and western Europe. It is setting in motion powerful forces tending to create new equilibria in transportation, business logistics, and personal living patterns. Many new options have become available, especially with respect to land use. The decline of the older pattern based on railroad common carrier service is already far advanced as new routing patterns, costs, and service packages are made available. Many economic functions formerly clustered in the city center can now be more advantageously conducted in rapidly widening metropolitan rings, and even beyond. The age of the non‐rail‐connected industry, the mobile family, and even the mobile home is upon us. The end result will be a reduction of congestion in the city, new patterns of surburban developmen...