- 著者
-
川分 圭子
- 出版者
- 経営史学会
- 雑誌
- 経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.36, no.2, pp.1-26, 2001-09-25 (Released:2009-11-06)
Merchant bankers and the modern trading system emerged between the 1830s and 1850s. Before these changes, it was commission merchants that were engaged in both trade and finance. They bought or sold goods on others' accounts and advanced from one half to three-fourths of the total amount of goods to the consignors. This financing system, the advance on consignments, was developed in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and introduced to Great Britain in the end of the eighteenth century. Aside from selling and buying on consignment and trade finance, some commission merchants sold insurance and dealt with securities and sometimes speculated on their own accounts.To study the business of commission merchants, therefore, would contribute to understanding how international commerce and finance were managed, as well as the early insurance business and stock transactions before the modern system was established. But the business of commission merchants has never been seriously researched. The case studies of merchant bankers, which are relatively abundant, include few remarks about their activities in the earlier days when they were still commission merchants rather than merchant bankers.The author has been researching George Philips & Co., London, intending to complete one case study of a commission merchant house. The business records of this firm exist for a very short period, from 1801 to 1803, but its activities extend widely, from serving as an agency for import and export, trade finance, banking, to broking of marine insurance. In this essay, the author provides an overview of its transactions first and later elaborates on its marine insurance business.