Kneeling to violent men: Investors and insurrection in Imperial Russia

Where people face immature or contested political institutions – a characteristic of many lower-income countries – the lack of access to the ballot box may result in political violence. Terrorism, uprisings, and other forms of individual or collective action to shift power may result in damage, fatalities, and, above all, uncertainty about what is to happen next. How then do businesses respond to political violence? This paper argues that political violence can be an alternative way in which to understand business history in difficult environments, creating less of a ‘rupture’ in the history of a firm than a ‘structural break’. By using stock prices and popular press, researchers can triangulate the strategic responses of firms and sectors to political uncertainty. This methodological framework is developed using political violence in one country, Russia during the nineteenth century, to show the effect of such violence on firms and their environment.