Published since March 20, 2017

Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte

Journal of Business History

ISSN: 2367-2293

Edited by: Carsten Burhop, Christian Kleinschmidt, Jan-Otmar Hesse

In cooperation with: Hartmut Berghoff, Andreas Fahrmeir, Christina Lubinski, Werner Plumpe, Mary O'Sullivan, Raymond Stokes

Managing Editor: Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger

About this journal

The Journal of Business History addresses all facets of business history, taking a broad approach that encompasses neighboring disciplines, international developments, and an expanded definition of the firm. In order to publish first-class research that actively engages with companies, the economy, and the political sector, the journal solicits contributions from promising authors around the globe. Articles are accepted in German or English. All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review.

Submit your manuscript here: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/zug

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Supplementary Materials

Topics

Volume 68 Issue 1

March 2023

Publicly Available March 17, 2023

Titelseiten

Page range: I-IV

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Aufsätze (Articles)

March 17, 2023

Die Eigenkapitalrentabilität deutscher Industrieaktiengesellschaften 1925–1929

Markus Flüggen

Page range: 1-36

Abstract

In historical works, one likes to argue with profits or gains. Corporate profits also play a central role in Knut Borchardt’s well-regarded thesis that the economy in the middle phase of the Weimar Republic could be described as an «abnormal, in fact sick, economy» and therefore problems had accumulated that were extraordinarily significant on the long run in the collapse of Germany’s first democracy. According to this view, excessive wages in particular have caused a compression of those incomes that normally finance investment. A verification of this profit compression thesis is not possible with only commercial balance sheets, as these are considered unreliable due to the large entrepreneurial discretion involved in balance sheet preparation. The situation is different with tax balance sheets: tax law severely restricts the scope for discretion in balance sheet preparation, and tax balance sheets have been subject to scrutiny by the tax authorities since 1925. Therefore, tax balance sheets are considered as a very reliable basis for return calculations. By using all surviving tax balance sheets, Mark Spoerer has presented a study of the return on equity of industrial stock corporations for the years 1925 to 1941. For the years from 1925 to 1929, he concludes that in the «Golden Twenties» the return on equity of industrial stock corporations could not have been more than two to a maximum of five percent. He claims that through his work the profit compression thesis has been empirically verified. So far, there has been no critical examination of this work. The aim of this paper is to make up for this. It is shown that the surviving balance sheets do not allow conclusions to be drawn about the profitability of all industrial joint-stock corporations. On the other hand, it is shown that some tax balance sheets of very large companies, which have been included with a high degree of weight in the calculation of returns, contain considerable errors. In addition, some companies have used special tax rules to transfer the expense of future or previous periods to the years 1925 to 1929. Both – the erroneous accounting and the special tax rules – result in significant understatements of profits in the surviving tax balance sheets. Consequently, the calculated returns cannot be correct. Finally, an outlook is given on the consequences of the results of this paper for the use of tax balance sheets.

March 17, 2023

Perfektion in Technik und Form

Unternehmensstrategien in der Möbelfertigung zwischen 1750 und 1914

Maren-Sophie Fünderich

Page range: 37-62

Abstract

Modern furniture manufacturing began in the mid-18th century, when cabinet makers, following the English model, manufactured luxury furniture in box construction and for stock according to the principles of rationalization and specialization. Other companies are used as examples to trace the transition to industrial production, until furniture made entirely by machines came onto the market at the beginning of the 20th century and the question of good design became increasingly important. Therefore, the second part of the essay uses selected examples to examine how companies were influenced from the outside, by large customers, the state or artists, with the aim of producing high-quality and well-designed products.

March 17, 2023

Genossenschaftliche Belletristik

Arnd Kluge

Page range: 63-92

Abstract

Co-operatives were the only group of enterprises, which used belletristic literature systematically for propaganda purposes. This essay analyses lyrics, dramas, novels and short stories of German co-operatives between the 1880s and 1950s. It examines the co-operative contents of the sources and the tendencies of the surrounding society reflected in them. Furthermore, the study discusses whether the aims of the co-operative organizations were reached, and why the project was terminated in the 1950s.

March 17, 2023

Von Offizieren und Managern: Reproduktion und Transformation einer Elite

Martin Elbe

Page range: 93-111

Abstract

The professional development of Bundeswehr officers today is almost emblematic of the careers of executives as part of a management elite. On the one hand, officers make careers within the military (in their traditional field), but on the other hand, the majority of officers leave the Bundeswehr after a few years and then pursue a civilian career path. How do the members of the officer corps recruit themselves and how do their military and civilian careers develop afterwards? The article investigates these references on the basis of empirical material.

Aus aktuellem Anlass (for topical reasons)

March 17, 2023

Nachruf Prof. Dr. Knut Borchardt

(2. Juni 1929 bis 5. Februar 2023)

Michael C. Schneider

Page range: 113-115

Open Access March 17, 2023

Nachruf Prof. Richard Hugh Tilly, PhD

(17. Oktober 1932 bis 18. Februar 2023)

Carsten Burhop

Page range: 117-119

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Rezensionen (Reviews)

March 17, 2023

Walter Hochreiter, Roche in Basel und Westeuropa & Juris Salaks, Roche in Osteuropa, Editiones Roche, Basel 2021, 629 S., alle 3 Bände zusammen € 68,00.

Christian Marx

Page range: 121-124

March 17, 2023

Gabriella Lojacono/Laura Ru Yun Pan, Resilience of Luxury Companies in Times of Change, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin/Boston 2021, 314 S., € 109,95.

Jonathan Voges

Page range: 124-125

March 17, 2023

Pierre-Yves Donzé/Véronique Pouillard/Joanne Roberts (Hrsg.), The Oxford Handbook of Luxury Business, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2022, 634 S., € 136,25.

Johanna Steinfeld

Page range: 126-127

March 17, 2023

Beate Kohler-Koch/Sebastian Fuchs/David A. Friedrich, Verbände mit Zukunft? Die Re-Organisation industrieller Interessen in Deutschland, Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2022, 336 S., € 64,99.

Werner Bührer

Page range: 127-129

March 17, 2023

David de Jong, Braunes Erbe. Die dunkle Geschichte der reichsten deutschen Unternehmerdynastien, Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln 2022, 496 S., € 28,00.

Werner Bührer

Page range: 129-131

March 17, 2023

Stephen Broadberry/Kyoji Fukao (eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of the Modern World. Volume 1 – 1700 to 1870, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021, 496 S., € 145.

Martijn Lak

Page range: 131-133

March 17, 2023

Ulrich Pfister/Jan-Otmar Hesse/Mark Spoerer/Nikolaus Wolf (eds.), Deutschland 1871. Die Nationalstaatsbildung und der Weg in die moderne Wirtschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2021, 454 S., € 114.

Martijn Lak

Page range: 133-135

Mitteilung (information)

March 17, 2023

Reisestipendien Ausschreibung 2023

Page range: 137-137

Zur Rezension in der Geschäftsstelle eingegangene Bücher

March 17, 2023

Zur Rezension in der Geschäftsstelle eingegangene Bücher

Page range: 139-142

Volume 68 (2023)

Issue 1

Volume 67 (2022)

Volume 66 (2021)

Volume 65 (2020)

Volume 64 (2019)

Volume 63 (2018)

Volume 62 (2017)

Volume 61 (2016)

Volume 60 (2015)

Volume 59 (2014)

Volume 58 (2013)

Volume 57 (2012)

Volume 56 (2011)

Volume 55 (2010)

Volume 54 (2009)

Volume 53 (2008)

Volume 52 (2007)

Volume 51 (2006)

Volume 50 (2005)

Volume 49 (2004)

Volume 48 (2003)

Volume 47 (2002)

Volume 46 (2001)

Volume 45 (2000)

Volume 44 (1999)

Volume 43 (1998)

Volume 42 (1997)

Volume 41 (1996)

Volume 40 (1995)

Volume 39 (1994)

Volume 38 (1993)

Volume 37 (1992)

Volume 36 (1991)

Volume 35 (1990)

Volume 34 (1989)

Volume 33 (1988)

Volume 32 (1987)

Volume 31 (1986)

Volume 30 (1985)

Volume 29 (1984)

Volume 28 (1983)

Volume 27 (1982)

Volume 26 (1981)

Volume 25 (1980)

Volume 24 (1979)

Volume 23 (1978)

Volume 22 (1977)

Volume 17 (1972)

Volume 16 (1971)

Issue 5-6

Volume 15 (1970)

Volume 14 (1969)

Volume 13 (1968)

Volume 12 (1967)

Volume 11 (1966)

Volume 10 (1965)

Volume 9 (1964)

Volume 8 (1963)

Volume 7 (1962)

Volume 6 (1961)

Volume 5 (1960)

Volume 4 (1959)

Volume 3 (1958)

Volume 2 (1957)

Volume 1 (1956)

Issue 1

CiteScore	0.3
Source Normalized Impact per Paper	0.500

Editorial

Editors
Prof. Dr. Carsten Burhop (University of Bonn, Germany) (Managing Editor)
Prof. Dr. Christian Kleinschmidt (University of Marburg, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Jan-Otmar Hesse (University of Bayreuth, Germany).

Editorial Board
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Berghoff (University of Göttingen, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Fahrmeir (Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Christina Lubinski (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)
Prof. Dr. Mary O'Sullivan (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
Prof. Dr. Werner Plumpe (Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany)
Prof. Dr. Raymond Stokes (University of Glasgow, UK)

CEO of GUG / Editorial Manager
Dr. Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger (Frankfurt, Germany)

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 2367-2293
Print ISSN: 0342-2852
Type: Journal
Languages: German, English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
First published: March 20, 2017
Publication Frequency: 2 Issues per Year