History

The East India Company and the Birth of the Modern Corporation

ABSTRACT

This colloquium focused on the history of the East India Company as a model for state interference and ultimately the politicization of decisions by corporations.

READING LIST

Conference Readings

Bowen, H. V. The Business of Empire: The East India Company and Imperial Britain, 1756-1833. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Burke, Edmund. Select Works of Edmund Burke, Volume 4: Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by and compiled by Francis Canavan. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 1999.

Hamilton, Earl J. “The Role of Monopoly in the Overseas Expansion and Colonial Trade of Europe Before 1800.” The American Economic Review 38, no. 2 (May, 1948): 33-53.

Lal, Deepak. In Praise of Empires: Globalization and Order. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Muthu, Sankar. Empire and Modern Political Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Robins, Nick. The Corporation That Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational. New York: PlutoPress, 2006.

Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1981.

The Economist. “The Company that ruled the waves.” The Economist (December 17, 2011): 109-111.