Conference organizer: STEVEN NAFZIGER (Williams College)

How, by whom, and to what end are the structures and operating procedures of firms, organizations, and political and legal systems determined? Do such internal considerations matter for broader economic outcomes? If so, why? Much modern economic history is concerned with such issues, and economic historians have made fundamental contributions towards shaping the social science surrounding these questions. This conference is a forum for presenting and discussing cutting edge work from diverse settings that showcases the ways that the interdisciplinary toolkit of economic historians can expand our understanding of the internal economies and external effects of firms, laws, and politics. 

Please register if you plan to attend. Registration is limited to Yale faculty and affiliated faculty, postdocs, graduate students, conference authors and co-authors.  Zoom links will be provided upon registration.

Please note all times are in Eastern Standard Time (EST). 

Program for Firms, Organizations, and Institutions in Economic History

Each presenter will have 10 minutes to make some remarks, which will then be followed by approximately 40 minutes of questions, comments, and discussion. As such, all attendees are expected to have read the papers. There will be no formal discussants. 

Papers are password-protected. Please contact Noel Sardalla for the password. 

Day 1: Friday, November 5, 2021

1:00 - 1:10 pm         Welcome

1:10 - 2:00 pm         Paper 1: Kara Dimitruk, Swarthmore College, “Before Apartheid: Labor Markets, Political Parties, and Institutions in Nineteenth-Century South Africa
Chair: MAGGIE E.C. JONES, UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA/YALE UNIVERSITY

2:00 - 2:10pm         Break

2:10 – 3:00pm        Paper 2: Cihan Artunç, Middlebury College, “Political Connections and Corporate Performance in Egypt, 1890 – 1952” (with Mohammed Saleh)
Chair: 
STEVEN NAFZIGER, WILLIAMS COLLEGE

3:00 – 3:10pm        Break

3:10 – 4:00pm        Paper 3: Metin Coşgel, University of Connecticut, “Gender and Justice: A Quantitative Analysis of Women’s Participation and Victory in Ottoman Courts” (with Hamdi Genç, Emre Özer, and Sadullah Yıldırım)
Chair: ROWENA GRAY, UC MERCED

4:00 – 4:10pm        Break

4:10 – 5:00pm        Paper 4: Leigh Gardner, LSE “Political Constraints in British Africa: Evidence from Native Authority Institutions” (with Jutta Bolt, Jennifer Kohler, Jack Paine, and James Robinson)
Chair: DUSTIN FRYE, VASSAR COLLEGE    

5:00 – 6:00              Zoom happy hour

Saturday, November 6

9:00 – 9:30              Zoom coffee

9:30 – 10:20           Paper 5: Mike Andrews, University of Maryland – Baltimore County,  Uncertainty vs. Asymmetric Information in Markets for Technology: Evidence from Illinois Firms, 1919-1936” (with Huseyin Akkoyun and Rajkamal Vasu)
Chair:
JOSÉ ANTONIO ESPÍN SÁNCHEZ, Yale University

10:20 – 10:30         Break

10:30 – 11:20          Paper 6: David Rosé, Wilfrid Laurier University, “Credit Cooperatives and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Quebec” (with Bill Dorval)
Chair: NICOLAS ZIEBARTH, Auburn University

11:20 – 11:30          Break 

11:30 – 12:20         Paper 7: Eric Hilt, Wellesley College, "Partnerships vs. Corporations in Investment Banking: Evidence From the Back Office Crisis in the 1960s"
Chair: AMANDA GREGG, Middlebury College

12:20 – 12:30        Wrap up