Preindustrial businesses: the time of the merchant -- The many paths to industrialization -- British and German businesses during industrialization -- Big and small businesses in industrializing America -- Japanese and Chinese businesses during industrialization -- American, British, and German...

This paper explores philanthropic finance by analysing data on the sizes and structures of the 20 highest-giving private foundations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan in 2005. It is shown that socio-cultural rather than purely economic indicators are better predictors...