Pirate Organizations as Precursors of Capitalism
* Book: The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the Fringes of Capitalism. By Rodolphe Durand and Jean-Philippe Vergne. Harvard Business Review, January 2013
Abstract
"When capitalism spread along the trade routes toward the Indies...when radio opened an era of mass communication . . . when the Internet became part of the global economy...pirates were there. And although most people see pirates as solitary anarchists out to destroy capitalism, it turns out the opposite is true. They are the ones who forge the path. In The Pirate Organization, Rodolphe Durand and Jean-Philippe Vergne argue that piracy drives capitalism's evolution and foreshadows the direction of the economy. Through a rigorous yet engaging analysis of the history and golden ages of piracy, the authors show how pirates form complex and sophisticated organizations that change the course of capitalism."