ABSTRACT
The 1990s represent something of a paradox in business history’s evolution as an academic subject. In institutional terms, the subject has in relative terms flourished. The Japan Business History Society continues to dominate the field with over 800 members, in addition, the US Business History Conference now has 475 members and the European Business History Association, only founded in 1994, has 300. While faculty positions in economic history have declined in many countries, new posts have been created for business historians, even though many business schools continue to neglect or marginalise the subject. Yet, it is not evident that the intellectual advances made by the subject have been so great. The Chandlerian synthesis has been criticised, but no new synthesis has replaced it. Many well-researched company histories have been published, but it is hard to say that they have made a decisive improvement on the methods employed by their distinguished predecessors.
