While business history as a field of study originated and has for long focused on the history of business in Western developed countries and regions and Japan, more recently historians have called attention to the growing body of business history scholarship that deals with emerging markets. They have also encouraged the writing of an 'alternative business history' that develops its own range of themes and research questions (Austin, Davila and Jones, 2017). However, despite the growth of literature on the history of business in individual non-Western countries and regions, such as India, China and South America, little comparative research has been carried out on the historical development of entrepreneurship and business in these regions that identifies both similarities and differences in the history of business outside of the West. Such comparative work is necessary though if we wish to arrive at a set of research questions and themes both different from those of the business history of the developed world and still not unique to only one country or region.
In order to start addressing these shortcomings in the business history literature, this roundtable aims to bring together business historians working on China, India, and other regions such as South America and Africa for a discussion of the current state of the business history scholarship in each of their sub-fields. This discussion aims to identify common research questions and themes and arrive at a research agenda for business historians working on countries and regions outside the West.