The origins of enterprise are often associated with the Industrial Revolution, but this article presents evidence of entrepreneurial activities from a much earlier date - the medieval period. Between 1250 and 1500 the church, merchants and members of the royal court all engaged in activities...

Analytical business history requires a synthesis of theories of transaction cost, entrepreneurship and firm-specific competence. These theories can be integrated using the concept of information cost. Economies of information cost explain the emergence of market-making intermediation in...

Since the banking crisis of 2008 the global economy is perceived as riskier than before. Firms that cannot manage risks have withdrawn from countries in which they previously invested. These problems are not new. For centuries firms have invested in risky foreign environments, and many of them...