{"title":"The Price of Nitrogen at the End of the Nineteenth Century","authors":"A. Page, L. Herment","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2021-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2021-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The second half of the nineteenth century was marked by the concomitant and entangled processes of the rise of agricultural chemistry and that of the fertiliser trade. Yet, while the two were undoubtedly related, the work of agricultural chemists was not necessarily characterized by the uniform and unequivocal promotion of fertilisers. This article looks at some of the complex ways in which chemists participated in the development of the fertiliser trade by studying how their work was used to ascribe a commercial price to a chemical element. It analyses the contested development of the idea that nitrogen, in particular, could be given a price, and shows how the rise of this quotation lay at the intersection of scientific and commercial considerations. More broadly, it argues that the importance of the new artificial fertilisers primarily lay not so much in yield increases as in inaugurating a new regime marked by a more comprehensive quantitative assessment of inputs and outputs, thereby playing a key role in the industrialisation of agriculture.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125465164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Super State: The Political Economy of Phosphate Fertilizer Use in South Australia, 1880–1940","authors":"D. Byerlee","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2021-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2021-0005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract From 1882 to 1910 superphosphate was almost universally adopted by wheat farmers in South Australia. A supply chain perspective is used to link the mining of phosphate rock in distant Pacific islands to the final application of superphosphate in the fields of Australian wheat farmers. Farmers and private manufacturers led the adoption stage in the context of a liberal market regime and the role of the state at this stage was limited although strategic. After 1920, the role of the state in the industry sharply increased in all phases of the industry. A political economy perspective is used to analyse state-ownership of raw material supplies and protectionist policies to manufacturers that resulted in high prices in Australia by 1930. Numerous government reviews pitted the interests of farmers and manufacturers leading to a complex system of tariffs and subsidies in efforts to serve all interests. Overall, the adoption of superphosphate was a critical factor in developing productive and sustainable farming systems in Australia, although at the expense of Pacific Islanders who prior to WWII received token benefits and were ultimately left with a highly degraded landscape.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124439270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The British Fertiliser Manufacturers’ Association: Struggle for Survival 1870‒1930","authors":"M. Moss","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2021-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2021-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Most firms in the British fertiliser industry of the 19th century were small and combined other activities, such as seed merchants, millers, manufacturers of sulphuric acid and in one case explosives. In the heyday of high farming there was almost no co-operation and no attempt to achieve economy of scale through merger and amalgamation. In 1875 just before the onset of the depression the Chemical Manure Manufacturers’ Association was formed to fix prices and address the challenges posed by proposed Government regulation of what was after all a noxious industry. This story mirrors much of British industry, where implicit (price-fixing) cartels failed and individual firms rejected collaboration in favour of what seems an irrational commitment to a free market ideology that was transparently misplaced.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132377398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why Did German Early Industrial Capitalists Suggest Workers’ Pensions, Arbitration Boards and Minimum Wages?","authors":"Alfred Reckendrees","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Today at the beginning of the 21st century, there is a debate across Europe about how much welfare society should provide, and how much private insurance is possible. Two hundred years ago, in the formative period of industrial capitalism, social problems had long been left to private initiative. Commodification of labour and its concentration in large factories, however, created demand for social protection beyond the limited shelter provided by charity. Representatives of industry in Aachen suggested compulsory factory rules granting rights to workers, compulsory workers’ pension funds, minimum wages and maximum working hours. The article argues that the industrialists’ aim was to stabilize the social order of industrial capitalism by using ideas of social partnership. Labour should not just be pacified, but reconciled with capitalist society. While interpreting social policy as a capitalist aim, the article aims to contribute to the discussion about the origins of the welfare state.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125523172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Die Expansion der deutschen Großbanken nach Österreich und in die Tschechoslowakei 1938/39","authors":"D. Ziegler","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In order to integrate the (in part) highly industrialized Austrian and Bohemian economies into the German autarky and war economy it was very important for the German government to take control of all relevant Austrian and Bohemian industrial concerns, that is, big industry in these countries had tobe “Aryanized” and/or “Germanized”. At the time of invasion, many of the major Austrian and Bohemian companies were under the control of Austrian and Czechoslovakian banks respectively. Therefore, the realignment of the finance industry of the occupied territories became a precondition for the intended takeover of these industrial concerns. Simultaneously, it offered the German great banks excellent prospects for expansion. On the other hand, the deep economic crisis of the early 1930s had not yet been overcome in both countries and the German great banks faced substantial risks when they took over the more important native banks. Therefore, the strategies by which the great banks penetrated the Austrian and Bohemian markets differed substantially. This article explains the logic behind the respective strategies of Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank and Commerzbank as well as the intensions of the German authorities and assesses the relative success of the respective strategies.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121384770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Das Wechselkreditgeschäft der Reichsbank vor der Bankenkrise von 1931","authors":"Carsten Burhop","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines two aspects of the Reichsbank’s discount business in the years 1924 to 1932: First, the granting of Reichsbank discount loans to commercial banks in their function as lenders of last resort. Second, the direct granting of discount loans by the Reichsbank to non-banks to finance the short-term assets of industry and trade. From 1931 onwards, the Reichsbank increasingly granted financial discount loans to alleviate the liquidity crisis of the commercial banks. I trace this in detail for the Reichsbank branch in Leipzig. With regard to the granting of loans by the Reichsbank to trade and industry, I find indications of relatively high credit risks in the Reichsbank’s portfolio, especially in the granting of small loans. The extensive efforts in loan selection and loan monitoring documented here could not remedy the situation.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121666788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mozart und seine Subskription der drei Klavierkonzerte KV 413-415 von 1783","authors":"Alessandro Monti","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The research on the history of pricing strategies and decisions by companies and individuals has not received much attention up to now. This is surprising, as pricing is the most important profit driver, and thus an inquiry into the historic origins of price-related decisions by the early modern market operators can yield important insights for both historians and current practitioners on successful marketing strategies. The following article contributes to the research on business history by proposing, first of all, a framework for the conceptual definition between a revenue and a price model. Furthermore, it is shown that subscription-based revenue was generated as early as 1617. The revenue model of the subscription – an early antecedent of today’s crowdfunding scheme – will then be covered in detail by investigating the case of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos KV 413-415. The influential composer decided to appeal to a broader target group by using a subscription-based pricing scheme for these three piano concertos in 1783. The subscription however was unsuccessful, and the major reason for this failure as well as Mozart’s probable economic reasoning are elaborated. Finally, the rising modern market forc es, that steered the Viennese music market of the late 18th century towards modern*structures, made sure that market operators at that time tried to adapt to these forces by offering modern and innovative revenue and price models, such as highly differentiated, content-based and time-definite subscriptions.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134505605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Regionale Industrialisierung revisited – Die niederrheinische Textilregion von der Protoindustrialisierung bis zum 20. Jahrhundert als Fallbeispiel","authors":"Stefanie van de Kerkhof","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The concept of Regional Industrialization developed by Rainer Fremdling, Toni Pierenkemper and Richard Tilly is based on a small-scale research approach and composes regions according to criteria of homogeneity. This paper argues that the concept is fruitful in regard to textile regions and their analysis in a long-term perspective from proto-industrialization to the 20th century. It examines relevant factors such as capital, labour, raw materials, transfer of capital, technology and knowledge in order to analyse the specific regional path of growth. Especially the role of migrant pioneer entrepreneurs and the institutional-cultural setting, i.e. the state monopolies of the regional silk and velvet producers are addressed. Mechanisation and the factory system were introduced relatively late in comparison to other regions in the wool and cotton branch of textile industry. But innovations in weaving and energy technology diffused rather rapidly in Krefeld, Mönchengladbach and the rural surroundings. The paper shows how the growing textile industry of the left lower Rhine region diversified during the Great Depression of the 1870s-90s and induced forward and backward linkages to the machinery, tool and chemical industries. In all segments of the textile industry in the region (silk, velvet, cotton, wool, synthetics) path dependencies evolved which still have an effect on research institutions and industrial culture today.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125776865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Work Creation, Rearmament, Public and Private Investment in Germany 1933–1938: An Input-Output Analysis of their Impact on Employment and Production","authors":"R. Fremdling, R. Stäglin","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Empirically, we apply the input-output table of Germany for the benchmark year of 1936 to assess the impact of work creation, rearmament, public and private investment on employment and production in Germany during the 1930s. Our analytical framework integrates the Keynesian multiplier into Leontief’s traditional model. Of course one can speculate about the counterfactual scenario of whether or not the NS-upswing would have taken place even without Hitler’s economic policy. On basis of our reassessment we can safely claim, however, that these programmes were a sufficient condition to create full employment as early as 1936.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114371255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Der Ursprung der geräuschlosen Kriegsfinanzierung im „Dritten Reich“ 1935–1939","authors":"R. Banken","doi":"10.1515/jbwg-2020-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2020-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In addition to the well-known mefo bills and other types of state debts, National Socialist tax policy was also of great importance for the financing of armament before the war began. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Nazi regime could not agree on the general course of tax policy due to the already high tax burden since spring 1935. As the Reich Ministry of Finance was only able to push through a few small tax increases despite a stricter tax collection practice, the tax coverage of Reich expenditures sank further and further and the short-term national debt increased. This development led to a severe liquidity crisis of the Reich’s finances in 1938 due to the ever accelerating armament, which was overcome for the time being mainly by issuing short-term treasury bonds. This ad hoc solution became entrenched during the war due to those groups in the Nazi regime that continued to block tax policy and formed the basis for the silent financing of the war.","PeriodicalId":195429,"journal":{"name":"Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook","volume":"28 3 Suppl 10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123434891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}