Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878–2007
Author(s): William J. Hausman (Author), Peter Hertner (Author), Mira Wilkins (Author)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: 26 Jun. 2008
Edition: Illustrated
Language: English
Print length: 512 pages
ISBN-10: 0521880351
ISBN-13: 9780521880350
Book Description
This book examines how multinational enterprises and international finance influenced the course of electrification around the world. Multinational enterprises played a crucial role in the spread of electric light and power from the 1870s through the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, their role did not persist, and by 1978 multinational enterprises in this sector had all but disappeared, replaced by electrical utility providers with national business structures. Yet, in recent years, there has been a vigorous revival. This book, a co-operative effort by the three authors and a group of experts from many countries, offers an analysis of the history of multinational enterprise. The authors take an integrated approach, not simply comparing national electrification experiences, but supplying a truly global account.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Review of the hardback: ‘This is a definitive study which will long be valued by business, financial and technological historians and, it is to be hoped, will also inspire new perspectives in such related fields.’ Financial History Review
‘The novelties of multinational finance that accompanied – and made possible – the electrification process throughout the world constitute the focus of this ambitious book … this book enriches the understanding of how electric-power systems evolved …’ The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Book Description
This book offers an analysis of multinational enterprise throughout the world by examining the spread of electrification.
About the Author
William J. Hausman is Chancellor Professor of Economics at the College of William & Mary. He was president of the Business History Conference, 2006-2007. Hausman has written extensively on the history of the electric utility industry. His recent publications include Webs of Influence and Control: Personal Financial Networks in the Formative Years of the US Electric Power Industry in Annales Historiques de l’Electricite; (with John Neufeld) The Market for Capital and the Origins of State Regulation of Electric Utilities in the United States in the Journal of Economic History; and US Foreign Direct Investment in Electric Utilities in the 1920s in Mira Wilkins and Harm Schroter, eds., The Free-Standing Company in the World Economy. Peter Hertner has just retired as Professor of Economic and Social History at the Historical Institute, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg. He is now working at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. He is an expert on the history of German foreign investments. In his numerous publications, he has made fundamental contributions on the banking and electrical industries in Germany, Italy, and Spain, as well as on the history of multinational enterprise. His current work is on German investments in the electrical industry in South America. Mira Wilkins is Professor of Economics at Florida International University. She is a former president of the Business History Conference and in 2004 was given the Life Time Achievement Award by that organization. Her The Emergence of Multinational Enterprise and The Maturing of Multinational Enterprise documented the history of American business abroad from the colonial era to 1970, while her The History of Foreign Investment in the United States to 1914 and her Foreign Investment in the United States, 1914-1945 cover inward foreign investments. She has published numerous articles and other books on the history of multinational enterprise.
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