The Economic and Business History Society

Editors of the Essays in Economic and Business History announce the publication of Wendy Lucas and Noel Campbell’s In Press article forthcoming in the May 2018 printed volume of the journal.

Unwritten Rules and Gendered Frames Amongst Probate Appraisers? Evidence from Eighteenth-Century York County, Virginia

Wendy Lucas and Noel Campbell

This study analyzes inventory appraisals ordered by the county court for those estates undergoing probate in York County, Virginia, between 1700 and 1800 to determine whether local gender-modulated unwritten rules of appraisal or appraisers’ gender-related frames in thought influenced the appraisal process. Regardless of how it occurred, we present evidence that the gender of the decedent, or of others involved in the probate process, statistically influenced appraisals. Although attractive as data sources, researchers have long known that probate materials can be difficult to use. Researchers have rarely written about gender as a source of difficulty, but our results suggest that localized, gender-related behavior by appraisers could further complicate using probate materials to study phenomena ranging from the diffusion of consumer goods or of technology, to the integration of markets, and the growth and distribution of wealth. Most relevantly, our results do not specify a particular data correction precisely because we cannot be sure that we have discovered all, or even the most significant, local, gender-influenced behaviors, nor the variability in these behaviors across time or jurisdictions.

Editors of the Essays in Economic and Business History announce the publication of Kelly M. Kilcrease’s In Press article forthcoming in the May 2018 printed volume of the journal.

Early American Joint-Stock Investors and Their Challenges Investing in a Physical Structure: The Case of Boston’s Long Wharf, 1710-1825

Kelly M. Kilcrease

This paper examines the case of Boston’s Long Wharf, a joint-stock company locally chartered in 1710, in order to gain insight into the significant internal and external challenges early American investors faced when their investment was in a physical structure. These challenges that were addressed by the shareholders, who were referred to as the proprietors, are examined over a period of 115 years from the points of the wharf’s construction to its diminution. An analysis of the company’s various records shows that the more serious challenges for the proprietors were seen in building the wharf itself, trying to prevent avoidable damage, addressing maintenance needs, surviving the economic consequences of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and adjusting to Boston’s physical and commercial growth. The paper concludes that the proprietors did an admirable job in addressing the major challenges of their time and produced results that kept the wharf active economically for the long term.

Editors of the Essays in Economic and Business History announce the publication of Takashi Kitaura’s In Press article forthcoming in the May 2018 printed volume of the journal.

The Growth of the Japanese Electric Power Industry and the World Bank’s Request to Increase Depreciation Costs Between 1951 and 1973

Takashi Kitaura

This study investigates the growth of the Japanese electric power industry following increases in the ratio of the depreciation cost to fixed assets and the construction of new electric power stations which employed depreciation cost as a funding mechanism. In addition, it reveals the determinant of the increase in the ratio of depreciation cost to fixed assets by using multiple regression analysis. This analysis shows that the World Bank’s request to increase depreciation costs contributed to the increase in the ratio of depreciation cost to fixed assets; however, the actual loan experience of companies borrowing from the World Bank did not. Thus, the World Bank’s request was effective only in the execution of loans. The role of the World Bank was significant for the growth of the Japanese electric power industry between 1953 and 1961, but was minimal after 1962. On the other hand, the increase of revenue from the demand increase and the fall of the ratio of cost to revenue contributed to the continuous increase of the ratio of depreciation cost to fixed assets.