Now, I have started reading "Global Electrification: Multinational Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878 - 2007" by William Hausman, Peter Hertner and Mira Wilkins. In the last century, electricity and railroads were two prime forces that changes the face of earth politically, socially and economically. Hence, I am pretty curious about the journey of global electrification and the role of international finance in its development. And so far I find the book pretty interesting.
A few key patterns emerge and re-enforce themselves across various business history books I have read (including the current one). The key time periods that emerge are pre WW1, WW1, roaring 20s, Great Depression, WW2, post WW2 in cold war and post cold war. The whole world saw a lot of change across this timeline. Let us see what we can pick up about electrification and the evolution of business across this timeline.
The countries that played a predominant role in global electrification include Germany, USA, UK, Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland. Especially Belgians had the first-mover advantage in the domain and continued to be pretty influential well until 1940s (the point till which I have read the book!). The names of Sofina and the Empian group particularly stands out as an influential Belgian holding companies. Germany, pretty predominant on the electrification scene before WW1, rapidly lost its influence after the first Great War and was thrown into a very turbulent time that just kept getting worse. Nevertheless, German manufacturing did reasonably well and some German firms like AEG and Siemens managed to invest internationally either directly or through association with Swiss/Belgian holding companies. The war also saw US getting cash rich and then investing its big piles of cash to electrify communities around the globe. In fact, by 1930 utilities were numero uno in terms of foreign direct investment from the US. UK was not able to capitalize on the decline of Germany and saw its power declining rapidly post WW1. It electrical industry remained mediocre at best. London, however, had the deepest pockets till WW1 and most entrepreneurs who wished to invest in electrification registered their company in UK or Canada to tap these funds easily. Post-WW1, US rapidly displaced UK as the number one destination for raising funds for electrification. UK itself turned more inwards, with the Government feeling that any external international investment would perhaps come at the cost of any internal domestic investment. There was clamour about replacing dependence on finance with dependence on manufacturing of "real" goods (which, strangely, does not sound too different from what I hear today after the recent economic crisis). This, overall, made UK influence on electrification weaker. Even with soft-loans to promote sales of capital intensive equipment for electricity generation, UK electrical manufacturing industry did not do particularly well. Even their massive investments were either sold off or overshadowed by Americans. The role of Canadian entrepreneurs and holding companies in electrification also stands out. In fact, even though US-UK were main source of cash, Belgium and Canada were the main sources of dynamic entrepreneurs, management talent, engineering resources and holding companies. The book is ambivalent about the role of France as I don't see any particular strengths or weaknesses emerging out of the description of their electrification activities. Nevertheless, they did invest in electrification of their own country and their colonies.
A few key patterns emerge and re-enforce themselves across various business history books I have read (including the current one). The key time periods that emerge are pre WW1, WW1, roaring 20s, Great Depression, WW2, post WW2 in cold war and post cold war. The whole world saw a lot of change across this timeline. Let us see what we can pick up about electrification and the evolution of business across this timeline.
The countries that played a predominant role in global electrification include Germany, USA, UK, Canada, France, Belgium and Switzerland. Especially Belgians had the first-mover advantage in the domain and continued to be pretty influential well until 1940s (the point till which I have read the book!). The names of Sofina and the Empian group particularly stands out as an influential Belgian holding companies. Germany, pretty predominant on the electrification scene before WW1, rapidly lost its influence after the first Great War and was thrown into a very turbulent time that just kept getting worse. Nevertheless, German manufacturing did reasonably well and some German firms like AEG and Siemens managed to invest internationally either directly or through association with Swiss/Belgian holding companies. The war also saw US getting cash rich and then investing its big piles of cash to electrify communities around the globe. In fact, by 1930 utilities were numero uno in terms of foreign direct investment from the US. UK was not able to capitalize on the decline of Germany and saw its power declining rapidly post WW1. It electrical industry remained mediocre at best. London, however, had the deepest pockets till WW1 and most entrepreneurs who wished to invest in electrification registered their company in UK or Canada to tap these funds easily. Post-WW1, US rapidly displaced UK as the number one destination for raising funds for electrification. UK itself turned more inwards, with the Government feeling that any external international investment would perhaps come at the cost of any internal domestic investment. There was clamour about replacing dependence on finance with dependence on manufacturing of "real" goods (which, strangely, does not sound too different from what I hear today after the recent economic crisis). This, overall, made UK influence on electrification weaker. Even with soft-loans to promote sales of capital intensive equipment for electricity generation, UK electrical manufacturing industry did not do particularly well. Even their massive investments were either sold off or overshadowed by Americans. The role of Canadian entrepreneurs and holding companies in electrification also stands out. In fact, even though US-UK were main source of cash, Belgium and Canada were the main sources of dynamic entrepreneurs, management talent, engineering resources and holding companies. The book is ambivalent about the role of France as I don't see any particular strengths or weaknesses emerging out of the description of their electrification activities. Nevertheless, they did invest in electrification of their own country and their colonies.
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