For more than thirty years a symbiosis has developed between the newinstitutionalists and business historians which stems from synergies in theinterests of both... » 

For more than thirty years a symbiosis has developed between the newinstitutionalists and business historians which stems from synergies in theinterests of both groups. The central questions posed by Coase and Williamsonof why firms exist and grow have found echoes in the historical work ofChandler on the forces leading to the rise of big business first in the UnitedStates and then in Europe. Conversely Williamson used Chandlers historicalevidence to give foundation to his development of transaction cost economics.The papers in this volume demonstrate that it can be fruitful to applyinstitutional theory to business history. In addition the volume shows thatthe wider study of the institutional environment is inseparable from the studyof business. It is clear however that although institutionalism in businesshistory has a long pedigree many areas of research and potential interactionwith theory remain to be explored. The extent to which this will occurinevitably depends upon thedegree to which the interests of theoreticians servethe needs of historians and vice versa.The contributions to this volume by moving beyond the analysis of the internalorganisation of firms to interrelationships within and between institutionsmoves the debate forward and points to the potential for new theoreticaldevelopments which would facilitate the study of networks moving them from theperiphery of institutional theory to the core a development which wouldsignificantly help business historians build conceptual models to make sense ofthe complexities of the past. «