Research interests
My research interests are formed by my educational and professional experiences. A first degree in History and American Studies at the University of Nottingham was a natural progression, but I had no plans to go into business. An accidental dalliance as an entrepreneur saw me take an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid and develop an interest in the organization of firms. A love of history and now an interest in firms resulted in an MSc in Economic History at the London School of Economics and a dissertation focused on the East India Company.
This led into a PhD also at the LSE, where I finished my PhD thesis in 2015. The thesis explores the factors that shape entrepreneur's decisions around the choices of ownership and the organisation of firms. Having enjoyed studying colonial markets and trading firms I extended my research to look at these issues in the 19th century Anglo-Indian trade. As part of this research I have investigated various British trading firms and their operations in the tea and indigo markets. The study draws on theory of the firm analysis to explain changes in the firms, and their evolving use of network and hierarchical forms of organization within partnership and joint-stock modes of ownership..
You can download the thesis here and find an abstract for my PhD thesis below.
The thesis was a finalist for both the Kroos and Coleman prizes.
My research interests are formed by my educational and professional experiences. A first degree in History and American Studies at the University of Nottingham was a natural progression, but I had no plans to go into business. An accidental dalliance as an entrepreneur saw me take an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid and develop an interest in the organization of firms. A love of history and now an interest in firms resulted in an MSc in Economic History at the London School of Economics and a dissertation focused on the East India Company.
This led into a PhD also at the LSE, where I finished my PhD thesis in 2015. The thesis explores the factors that shape entrepreneur's decisions around the choices of ownership and the organisation of firms. Having enjoyed studying colonial markets and trading firms I extended my research to look at these issues in the 19th century Anglo-Indian trade. As part of this research I have investigated various British trading firms and their operations in the tea and indigo markets. The study draws on theory of the firm analysis to explain changes in the firms, and their evolving use of network and hierarchical forms of organization within partnership and joint-stock modes of ownership..
You can download the thesis here and find an abstract for my PhD thesis below.
The thesis was a finalist for both the Kroos and Coleman prizes.
| michael_aldous_phd_abstract.pdf |
Some of the main findings of the thesis can be found in this article 'Avoiding negligence and profusion': The failure of the joint-stock form in the Anglo-Indian trade, 1840 - 1870. Enterprise and Society Vol.16, No.3: 648 - 685
The paper was awarded the 2016 Mira Wilkins prize..
The paper was awarded the 2016 Mira Wilkins prize..
| aldous_avoiding_negligence_and_profusion.pdf |
I have wider research interests in trading and service firms, particularly in the early modern period, and the interactions between European firms and Asian markets. My new paper looks at the crucial role played by brokers and auctioneers in growing colonial markets for prodcuts like indigo and tea.
“Rehabilitating the intermediary: Auctioneers and brokers in the 19th century Anglo-Indian trade.” Business History forthcoming
“Rehabilitating the intermediary: Auctioneers and brokers in the 19th century Anglo-Indian trade.” Business History forthcoming
| aldous_rehabilitating_the_intermediary.pdf |
