Entrepreneurial Failure Flashcards
What do E. Hunt and S. Pam suggest evidence shows of industry leaders during depression?
E. Hunt and S. Pam suggest that evidence shows that agriculturalists clung to traditional practices while there was a lack of entrepreneurialism in industry
What is argued to be a reason there were hard economic times in the later Victorian years according to revisionists?
Supposedly, hard economic times can be attributed to disinterested landlords and lacking investment
What is the revisionist argument for the depression in agriculture?
The depression in agriculture was supposedly caused by the lacking exploration of opportunities
What had restrictive effects on agricultural production?
Traditional style farm leases inhibited agricultural production innovations and increases
What is A. Offer’s opinion of the role played by landlords in the depression in agriculture?
A. Offer argues that landlords were incompetent, risk-adverse and rapacious landlords
Who characterises the ‘great estate’ system as pernicious to agricultural development?
A. Offer characterises the ‘great estate’ system as pernicious to agricultural development
What must be conceded about the failure of industry leaders to innovate?
It must be conceded that price incentives to adapt weren’t always clear or regionally / market-wise viable
What was the impact of long-term and short-term economic changes on entrepreneurialism or lack thereof?
Farmers were often confused by conflicting long term and short term incentives as well as fluctuations within these
What can be said of farmers reactions to depression?
They are more nuanced than traditionalists have given credit for, for example not everyone turned to dairying to offset agricultural strife, only those in areas where it was sensible to
What is an example of agricultural innovation which occurred in depression despite conflicting advice?
The adoption of low farming (maximising output per man rather than per acre) was adopted despite contemporaries viewing it as being less honourable / elegant
Why was low farming an effective solution to agricultural depression?
Low farming was useful during depression because it made use of marginal lands, creating low-cost low-yield systems which still turned a profit
What is an example of contemporary criticism of the entrepreneurial low-farming system?
F. A. Channing called low farming an “admission of failure” rather than serious cultivation
What was the main entrepreneurial responsibility of landlords?
Landlords had strategi entrepreneurial responsibility in effectively deploying capital over time to increase profit margins
What is an example of landlords being entrepreneurs?
Landlords were entrepreneurial in installing drainage, which is evident by looking at ledgers for drainage companies in Essex which show a spike 1875-1884
Where was there ‘liberal expenditure’ which indicates entrepreneurialism in farms?
Only where farms could truly afford to invest in improvements and when it suited in the wider economy e.g. the Orsett Estate
What must be remembered about the landlord’s responsibility to be entrepreneurial?
The responsibility to invest has to be considered within the constrains of economic security at the time, rather than looking at investment exogenous of the economy
By how much did farm rents fall 1872-1911?
Farm rents fell by 46.6%, suggesting that there was acute awareness of economic conditions from landlords, rather than a failure to engage with their responsibilities
Which historian studied farm rents during depression?
F. Thompson studied depression era farm rents
Which contemporary claimed no landlord evaded any of their responsibilities?
The Duke of Bedford in 1897 claimed all landlords fulfilled their responsibilities
Have landlords during the depression era been unfairly treated by historians as E. Hunt and S. Pam claim?
Yes. They were expected to be as schumpterian as their industrial revolution predecessors when wider economic conditions didn’t warrant it
Why were alternatives to cereal crops deterred during the era of depression?
Alternatives to cereal crops were deterred because of structural constraints such as the international market for cheese and social constraints such as dairying being considered a females profession
What was one significant failure of landlords in trying to offset depression?
As cereal farmers were the most distressed they were given the most attention, but because forces causing the depression were outside of British control this did little to help, and the prioritisation of cereal came at the expense of industries which could have been saved
What is a failure of all entrepreneurs or those with obligations to be as such during the era of depression?
No entrepreneurs tried to realise change politically through lobbying and policy making
What can be said about the extent to which entrepreneurialism would have made a difference to the depression in agriculture?
There was no one panacea which would alleviate depression
What does A. Godley assert as the two failures of historiography regarding Victorian entrepreneurialism?
A. Godley argues that two misunderstandings of the Victorian economy underpin incorrect assertions of entrepreneurialism: that manufacturing drove economic growth and that from 1850+ entrepreneurialism declined
What does A. Godley suggest happened to entrepreneurialism from 1850+?
A. Godley suggests that entrepreneurialism didn’t fail- it merely changed to suit the economy it was in, becoming concentrated in finance and management, this didn’t harm the economy because success wasn’t driven by manufacturing
When is often considered by contemporaries and historians to be the pinnacle of manufacturing entrepreneurialism?
The pinnacle of manufacturing entrepreneurialism is often seen to be the 1851 Great Exhibition
What can be conceded as one failure of the new style of entrepreneurialism?
The new style of entrepreneurialism- project promotion- was just as vulnerable to international competition as manufacturing entrepreneurialism
What does A. Godley call new entrepreneurialism, when did it end?
A. Godley calls new entrepreneurialism ‘project promotion’ and argues it ended in 1914
Where was project promotion most successful?
Project promotion was most successful in settler colonies
Why was project promotion most successful in settler colonies?
Arguably, project promotion was most successful in settler colonies because they were what P. Cain calls “capitalist Neo-Europes”
What was the major innovation in the Victorian era?
While the major IR innovation was the factory system, the Victorian era’s defining innovations were railways and steam power
What must be remembered about criticising a decline in innovation?
A decline of innovation may have been apparent in technology, but institutional innovation is as important to consider as this
What facilitated institutional innovation?
Institutional innovation was helped by the changes in imperial administration and imperial markets
What role did the empire play in Victorian entrepreneurialism?
The empire acted as a substantial captive export market
What was a social factor which inhibited all entrepreneurialism- and to what extent?
Small firms were generally not viewed as good enough or worthy, and were referred to as tradesmen. But the impact of this on a wider-scale was negligible because the nature of the economy demanded more capital than one man could find.
