A Review of the Ottoman Economic History Literature: Prospects for Business History Research

This study aims to offer an agenda for theoretical and empirical research in the Ottoman-Turkishbusiness history by reviewing the Ottoman economic history literature. Private economic sphere ingeneral, and business activities in particular, have found little place in the Ottoman economichistory literature. The presumptions of the Ottoman economic history literature mush have played arole in this gap. With recourse to the recent comparative research in economic history, this studychallenges these underlying assumptions about Ottoman peculiarity: the decisive role of the state in shaping the economic realm, the weak entrepreneurial culture, and the stagnant features of theIslamic law. It highlights three subfields of Ottoman economic history that could be relevant forbusiness historians: i) research on Ottoman entrepreneurial networks, in particular enterprises based on family and ethno-cultural ties; ii) research on Ottoman preindustrial and industrialmanufacturing, iii) research on the Ottoman institutions, in particular the law and economicsliterature. The study also dwells on theoretical tools and concepts in business management andeconomics literature (i.e. organizational theory and transaction costs) that these three fields candraw upon.