Community within corporations: decolonisation and the development of India's corporate economy, 1920s–1970s

Framing it within the broader economic history literature on informal institutions and their economic role in the development of capitalism, the research is motivated by the historical scholarship proffering the decline of community in the twentieth century.

Amidst the momentous changes in the 1920s and 1970s, India transitioned from being a colonial to a post-colonial economy. While decolonisation is often invoked in contemporary debates on Indian industrialisation, we know little about the Indian business communities who entered industry during the period, even as studies on the modern Indian economy continue to present evidence of their persistence. This thesis leverages quantitative evidence to illuminate the role and relevance of communities and related informal institutions within the formal institutions during the fifty formative years of the Indian corporate economy.</p><p><br>The key empirical contribution of the thesis is the construction of granular estimates on the nationality and community of board directors of listed joint-stock firms across eight Indian industries.