BHC 2026 Call for Papers
Business History Conference
Call for Papers
March 26-28, 2026
Imperial College London
CO-CREATION
Business is a source of creativity, but how exactly does creation occur? And just as important - who does it?
This year’s theme posits that nearly everything businesses create is in fact co-created. In management literature, co-creation refers to the way companies and their customers interact to create innovative or improved products and services. One prominent example is the software industry, which pre-releases new products in the expectation that insights provided by customers will inspire changes in design. Software is co-created; but to some extent, all products and services are the result of interactions between producers and consumers.
This call for papers aims to expand the concept of co-creation by exploring how it has occurred among firms and entrepreneurs, and between firms and their stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, investors, lenders, advisors, regulators, and local communities. Unlike the concepts of collaboration, co-creation does not assume that parties necessarily consent to work together or that relationships are equal or harmonious. Indeed, co-creation can occur as the result of antagonistic relationships and rivalries. For example, friction among firms, regulators, funders, and end-users have often forced the co-creation of new regulatory and legal frameworks for business. Co-creation can also happen unintentionally, and where we may not expect it, including in situations where power was unequally distributed among members of a network, partnership, joint venture, or supply chain.
The concept of co-creation can be used as an analytical lens to discover previously hidden dynamics, such as the role of actors in the periphery of a firm or market. It may uncover how the actions of non-elites, such as employees on the shop floor and behind retail counters, influenced the evolution of a product, service, or process. By using co-creation as a lens, we hope to identify previously hidden actors and their relationships, and in doing so provide more accurate accounts of how ‘the market’ brings about innovation and change.
Proposals and Submissions
The deadline for receipt of all paper and session proposals is October 17, 2025.
The BHC Program Committee invites sessions and papers that consider Co-Creation from a variety of different perspectives. While we encourage submissions to take up the conference theme, proposals addressing other topics in business history will receive equal consideration by the program committee in accordance with BHC policy.
Graduate students and emerging scholars in the field are particularly encouraged to attend. Graduate students and recent PhDs whose proposals are accepted may apply for funds to partially defray their travel costs. Information will be sent out once the program has been set.
The committee will prioritize fully formed panel proposals (composed of 3-4 papers, a discussant, and a chair). We also encourage creative formats that foster lively interactions among presenters and with the audience, such as roundtables and workshops. For recommendations on how to form sessions with other scholars, please see the panel proposal forums on the BHC website.
Individual paper submissions will be combined into new panels defined by themes chosen at the committee’s discretion.
Each presentation proposal should include a one-page (300 words) abstract and one-page curriculum vitae (CV) for each participant. Panel/roundtable proposals should also include a cover letter containing a title, a one-paragraph description of the session, the name and affiliation of a recruited chair (and discussant, if applicable), and the contact information for the session organizer.
To submit a proposal, go to https://thebhc.org/proposal-instructions.
In order to ensure balance, and in line with past practice, participants are limited to presenting only once in the program (e.g., presenting a paper or participating in a roundtable). Participants may, however, also serve as the chair or discussant in another session.
The deadline for submitting is October 17, 2025. Notice of acceptance will be given by December 15, 2025. Information on registration and fees for participation and the provisional program will be announced by the end of January 2026. Everyone appearing on the program must register for the meeting.
The Program Committee
The Program Committee includes
Shane Hamilton, Chair, University of York
Jennifer Black, Misericordia University
David Chan Smith, Wilfrid Laurier University
Ghassan Moazzin, University of Hong Kong
Venue
The Business History Conference will take place March 26-28, 2026 at Imperial College London.
Dissertation Colloquium
The BHC Doctoral Colloquium (DC) in Business History will be held on Thursday, March 26th, 2026. The participants will be invited for a welcome dinner on Wednesday, March 25th in London. During the DC, there will also be professional development sessions scheduled.
Typically limited to ten students, the colloquium is open to doctoral candidates who are pursuing dissertation research within the broad field of business history from any relevant discipline (e.g., from economic sociology, political science, cultural anthropology, or management, as well as history). Most participants are in year 3 or 4 or their degree program, though in some instances applicants at a later stage make a compelling case that their thesis research had evolved in ways that led them to see the advantages of an intensive engagement with business history.
We welcome proposals from students working within any thematic area of business history. Topics (see link for past examples) may range from the early modern era to the present, and explore societies across the globe. Participants work intensively with a distinguished group of BHC-affiliated scholars (including the incoming BHC president), discussing dissertation proposals, relevant literatures and research strategies, and career trajectories.
Applications (a statement of interest; CV; and a letter of support from the dissertation supervisor (or prospective supervisor)), and a three to five page presentation of the PhD project are due by Friday December 12th, 2025, via email to Carol Lockman (clockman@Hagley.org). Questions about the colloquium should be sent to its director, Prof. Eric Godelier (eric.godelier@polytechnique.edu). Applicants will receive notification of the selection committee's decisions by mid-January 2026. If they travel to London, all participants will receive a stipend that partially defrays travel costs to the annual meeting.
If accepted, Colloquium participants have a choice of pre-circulating one of the following:
· a 15-page dissertation prospectus or updated overview of the dissertation research plan; or
· a draft dissertation chapter, along with a one-page dissertation outline/description.
Prizes
The BHC offers a number of prizes tied to the conference. Please overview the following requirements to see if your paper can be considered and indicate that during the submission process.
- The K. Austin Kerr Prize will be awarded for the best first paper delivered by a new scholar at the annual meeting. A "new scholar" is defined as a doctoral candidate or a Ph.D. whose degree is less than three years old. You must nominate your paper for this prize on the proposal submission page where indicated. Please check the appropriate box if your proposal qualifies for inclusion in the Kerr Prize competition.
- The BHC awards the Herman E. Krooss Prize for the best English-language dissertation in business history by a recent Ph.D. in history, economics, business administration, history of science and technology, sociology, law, communications, and related fields. To be eligible, dissertations must be completed in the three calendar years immediately prior to the 2026 annual meeting and may only be submitted once for the Krooss prize. After the Krooss committee has reviewed the proposals, it will ask semi-finalists to submit copies of their dissertations. Finalists will present summaries of their dissertations at a plenary session and will receive a partial subsidy of their travel costs to the meeting. Proposals accepted for the Krooss Prize are not eligible for the Kerr Prize. If you wish to apply for this prize, submit a cover letter, dissertation abstract, and author's c.v., using this form: https://thebhc.org/krooss-prize-nomination. The deadline for proposals for the Krooss prize is November 13th, 2025.
- The Martha Moore Trescott Award is awarded to the best paper at the intersection of business history and the history of technology presented at the Business History Conference's annual meeting. The prize will be awarded on the basis of the written version of a paper to be presented at the annual meeting. Those wishing to be considered for the prize must indicate so at the time of submitting their original proposal for the meeting. Self-nominating scholars must also provide the written paper to the Chair of the committee not less than one month before the annual meeting. Though the prize will be awarded on the basis of the written paper, candidates must register for the meeting and present their work. Scholars who are eligible for the Kerr Prize may also enter the Trescott Prize. There are no other restrictions on eligibility. Written papers should be no longer than 4,000 words (exclusive of notes, bibliography, appendices, figures, and illustrations).