Masters and Servants: The Hudson’s Bay Company and Its North American Workforce, 1668–1786. Scott P. Stephen

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 642-643
Author(s):  
Jean Barman
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

Trapped?

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Ashley Riley Sousa
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Trade Network ◽  
Central California ◽  
The North ◽  
White Settlers ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article re-evaluates the nature of Indigenous labor at Central California’s New Helvetia colony. The fur trade in Central California was not simply a vehicle for settler exploitation of Indigenous labor but a dynamic trade network shaped by Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking trappers and traders, Mission San José, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and white settlers. Analysis of the financial aspects of trade for the Indigenous trappers and ethnohistorical examination of their motives for engaging in the trade suggest that the fur trade was not a source of degradation and dependency, but a vehicle by which they creatively and purposefully engaged colonial forces and markets. This article orients the histories of Plains Miwok– and Valley Nisenan–speaking communities into the larger story of the North American fur trade and suggests New Helvetia and its fur trade can be better understood as what historian Lisbeth Haas calls “Indigenous colonial” creations.

A Critique of Milgrom and Roberts' Treatment of Incentives vs. Bureaucratic Controls in the British North American Fur Trade

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary P. Spraakman
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
North West ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
British North American ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

In their 1992 textbook, Economics, Organization and Management, Milgrom and Roberts used 19th century fur trading companies as examples of effective (the incentive-based North West Company) and ineffective (the bureaucratic-based Hudson's Bay Company) organizations. Findings from detailed examinations of both companies' archives suggest that Milgrom and Roberts were not completely accurate in their depictions of the two companies' incentives and bureaucratic controls. In response to complexities of intercontinental trade, both companies used bureaucratic controls for coordination as well as profit sharing to motivate senior managers. More generally, the findings raise questions about Milgrom and Roberts' relatively negative conclusions concerning the effectiveness of bureaucratic controls.

Shoes, Canoes, and Lives in Unexpected Archives: Searching in Fur Trade Ledgers beyond the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy Nation-Knapper
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
North American ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Cultural Information ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

This article illuminates the existence and utility of fur trade ledgers and account books held in repositories beyond those held in the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives. While the vast holdings of the HBCA are a phenomenal resource for researchers of the North American fur trade, many smaller repositories across the continent hold fur trade sources that can complement research conducted in other institutions. Such sources can, when examined with an eye to the cultural information they contain, reveal far more about the cultural history of North America than simply the economic data for which they were created.

The North American Fur Trade: Bargaining to a Joint Profit Maximum under Incomplete Information, 1804–1821

1986 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M. Carlos ◽  
Elizabeth Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Incomplete Information ◽  
North American ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Fur Trade ◽  
Hudson's Bay Company ◽  
Bargaining Process ◽  
The North ◽  
Potential Gain ◽  
Hudson’S Bay Company

We examine bargaining between the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company using recent models of bargaining under incomplete information. Two previously undisturbed bodies of correspondence are analyzed: letters between the two companies and letters between the Hudson's Bay Company and its London committee. Through merger the companies achieved a joint maximum, but the lengthy and costly bargaining process dissipated much of the potential gain through depletion of animal stocks. Achievement of a joint maximum was hindered by incomplete information, commitment to a strategy which led to bargaining breakdowns, delineation of each party's rights under law, and environmental changes.

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