Awards

• Nominated for David H. Pinkney Prize 2005
• Nominated for Gilbert Chinard Prize 2006
• Nominated for Hagley Prize in Business History 2006
• Nominated for J. Russell Major Prize 2006

Overview

In this magisterial study, Michael Smith explains how France left behind small-scale merchant capitalism for the large corporate enterprises that would eventually dominate its domestic economy and project French influence throughout the world. Arguing against the long-standing view that French economic and business development was crippled by missed opportunities and entrepreneurial failures, Smith presents a story of considerable achievement. French companies made major contributions to the Second Industrial Revolution of 1880-1930, especially in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, electrochemicals, industrial gases, and motor vehicles. Rejecting the notion that France took a separate route to economic modernity, Smith argues that it tracked other industrial nations along a path dominated by large-scale production and corporate enterprise. Technological and organizational capabilities acquired by French companies prior to 1930 played a key role in the country's rapid economic recovery after World War II and its broader economic success in the second half of the twentieth century. Smith also addresses the distinctive characteristics of French economic and business development, including the pivotal role of the French state, the pervasive influence of French financiers, and the significance of labor conflict. This superb account is an invaluable contribution to business history and the history of modern France.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Stephen Smith
Publisher:   Harvard University Press
Imprint:   Harvard University Press
Volume:   No. 49
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   1.021kg
ISBN:  

9780674019393

ISBN 10:   0674019393
Pages:   588
Publication Date:   15 January 2006
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Prologue Assessing French Economic Development Some Preliminary Considerations Plan of the Book Introduction: Laying the Foundations for Modern Capitalism in France, 1500-1800 Creating France The Rise of Merchant Capitalism The Beginning of Industrial Capitalism Banking and Finance The French Revolution Aftermath of Revolution I. FROM MERCHANT CAPITALISM TO FINANCE CAPITALISM 1. Continuity and Change in Merchant Capitalism, 1800-1840s Retrenchment and Renewal in Provincial France Paris and the Remaking of French Merchant Capitalism 2. The Revolution in Banking and Transportation, 1840-1870s The Banking Revolution The Transportation Revolution 3. The New World of Financial and Commercial Capitalism, 1870s-1900s The Maturation of Banking and Finance Transforming and Transcending the Wholesale Trade The Beginnings of Mass Retailing II. THE FLOWERING OF INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM, 1800-1900 4. Textile Capitalism Cotton Linen and Jute Woolens Silk 5. The Capitalism of Coal The Birth and Maturation of an Industry, 1700s-1860 The Coal Companies in the Their Prime, 1860-1914 6. The Capitalism of Iron and Steel From the Old to the New Metallurgy, 1800-1860 The Age of Steel Begins, 1860-1880 7. Hardware, Machinery, and Construction The Hardware Industry Transformed The New Metallurgical Manufacturing 8. The Capitalism of Chemicals Heavy Chemicals The New Chemicals 9. The Capitalism of Glass, Paper, and Print Glass Paper and Print 10. Industrial Capitalism and Consumer Goods Flour and Breadstuffs Sugar and Confectionery Soap and Vegetable Oil Clothing and Home Furnishings 11. The New World of Industrial Capitalism Financing Industrial Enterprise Managing Labor Managing the Business Environment III. The Second Industrial Revolution and the Beginnings of Managerial Capitalism, 1880s-1930s 12. Big Steel The Remaking of French Iron and Steel, 1870s-1914 World War I and Its Aftermath 13. The Electrical Industry The Early Years, 1890s-1914 Growth, Maturation, and the Rise of Big Business, 1914-1930 14. The Automobile and Its Allies The Automobile Industry Tire and Rubber Aircraft and Aircraft Engines Petroleum 15. Industrial Chemicals and Materials The Survival and Transformation of Two Established Powers Electrochemicals and Electrometals Industrial Gases Pharmaceuticals and Artificial Fibers Big Cement 16. The New World of Managerial Capitalism Managing the Railroads Managing the Large Industrial Enterprise Conclusion: France on the Verge Notes Index Tables 1. The twenty largest French coal companies, 1865-1869 and 1890-1894 2. France's fifty largest manufacturing firms, 1936 3. The twenty-five largest French iron and steel firms in 1913 4. The twenty-five largest French iron and steel firms in 1930 5. France's largest electrical enterprises in 1929-1930 6. Assets and workforces of the largest American, German, and French electrical manufacturing companies in 1929-1930 7. The thirty largest French industrial firms in 1990

Reviews

Smith has produced an extremely useful synthesis of a vast number of studies of business history, as well as of his own research...[He] offers a well-developed...assessment of the shifting balance between continuity and change in the economy during the nineteenth century. -- Roger Price English Historical Review (12/01/2007)

Author Information

Michael Stephen Smith is Associate Professor of History, University of South Carolina.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions