Preliminary Programme

Throughout the early modern period a wide range of economic activities (both private and public) blossomed. The expansion of commercial and financial operations led to the formation of complex corporations, the running of which required an evergrowing cohort of a skilled and loyal clerical workforce as well as the development of increasingly sophisticated management techniques.
In early modern Italy this trend was mostly associated to a new crop of credit agencies: public banks and public pawnshops (Monti di pietà). Their spectacular economic success proved a mixed blessing, and many institutions had to battle cronyism, misconduct and fraud. The pioneering of new management procedures was instrumental in battling abuse and restoring business efficiency. This paper will be devoted to illustrate the innovative techniques to recruit and manage staff, introduced in the 17th century by the administration of one of the most prosperous financial agencies operating in Italy: the Monte of Bologna. Set up as public pawnshop to cater for the poor, the Bolognese Monte soon extended its reach to a wide range of credit activities. By the early 17th century it operated six separate branches, recorded every year thousands of transactions and had a large clerical staff. Promoting competence and loyalty was a constant struggle. By a complex process of trial and error Monte’ administrators tested and introduced new ways to promote the loyalty of employees through the careful blending of positive economic incentives, such as high salaries, promotions and retirement benefits; as well as negative ones, such as pecuniary penalties, forced job rotation and – in extreme cases – prosecution of misconduct. (Show less)

The Bank of England began its life in 1694 with a complement of just 17 clerks. By 1815 it employed over 900 men, making the Bank, at this time, the largest white-collar employer in Britain. This paper will draw upon sets of unique sources to explore the long-run development of the Bank’s recruitment procedures and its management of the men employed during a period in which the pool of skilled workers from which it could draw was relatively small. These sources include records of interviews and tests, the reflections of the various internal committees established to inspect work at the Bank and records of rules, regulations and the disciplining of clerks.

Labour historians have tended to neglect white collar work and, in particular, little is known about those pioneers working in the banking industry during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The first aim of this paper, therefore, is to contribute to an underdeveloped literature on Britain’s white-collar work and workers. The main purpose of the paper, however, is to explore the aptitude for the work of a group who in Michael Zakim’s words were ‘the fingers of the invisible hand’. Thus it will examine the qualities of the labour pool available to the Bank and demonstrate that the institution was often faced with a shortage of relevant skills. The paper will go on to explore the ways the Bank coped with this skill shortage, citing the imposition of regulations and periodic tightening of procedures and the introduction and maintenance of an internal labour market. It will also argue that one of the primary ways in which the institution managed skill shortages was through a process of deskilling: dividing tasks into specialised steps that required minimal training and little investment in skill acquisition.
(Show less)

In 1789 the National Debt Office was established in Sweden. Its main role was to administer the government’s debt by selling long-term bonds on the domestic credit market, by issuing promissory notes in the Swedish realm and by negotiating external loans on the leading financial markets in Europe. The Debt Office was governed by a number of directors, who were appointed by the Swedish Diet. In order for the directors to implement the debt policies that were decided by the Diet, the directors were dependent on a staff of accountants, book keepers and secretaries that handled the daily transactions. Previous research on the Debt Office has primarily focused on the debates in the Diet regarding the Swedish government’s debt policies and the decisions taken by the directors. Scholars have also examined the financial standing of the Debt Office. However, very little attention has been given to the clerical staff that carried out the policies. In my paper I will concentrate on the activities of the accountants and the book keepers. I will examine their background and their position in the Debt Office and on the local credit market. Additionally, I will analyze how conflicts concerning salaries and promotions were handled within the organization. By examining these issues we will not only gain a better understanding of the operations of the Debt Office and the credit market in Stockholm, but also how clerical work was organized in a European state at the end of the eighteenth century. (Show less)