Papers presented by Rebecca Orr since 2019
2021 Hopin Virtual Events Platform
"Light Fingers and Visible Hands: Deploying Fidelity Guarantee Insurance to Curb Employee Theft"
Christopher McKenna, University of Oxford
Rebecca Orr, European University Institute
Abstract:
Beginning in the 1840s, British employers generally required that workers hold fidelity guarantee insurance against theft as a condition of employment. In order to accurately calculate premiums, insurance companies maintained comprehensive records detailing the circumstances of previous losses. Using these rich archival records, we can gauge the rate and severity of employee fraud as well as the risks of particular occupational groups. For last year’s BHC, we had planned to present our initial findings. Two related counterintuitive conclusions emerged on white-collar crime in the 19th century. First, that employees rarely stole the maximum amount to which they had access; most people stole what they needed rather than what employers feared they might steal. And, second, that bankers, unlike other occupations, stole less frequently but far more money. Since submitting our initial proposal, we have made an important (if disturbing) third discovery that links directly to a century-long debate within sociology. The insurers’ account books reveal that a disproportionate number of employees charged with theft died by suicide once their crimes had been exposed. Building on Emile Durkheim’s On Suicide (1897) – the foundational text in modern sociology – we argue that Durkheim was indeed correct that economic crises led to embezzlers’ social anomie which resulted in suicide rates more than fifty-times the norm. We look forward to presenting our unexpected findings at the 2021 BHC virtual conference this March.
Keywords:
2020 Charlotte, North Carolina
"Collaboration in Researching and Teaching the Global History of Capitalism at Oxford"
Christopher McKenna, University of Oxford
Rebecca Orr, University of Oxford
Abstract:
As many in the BHC will know, Rowena Olegario and Chris McKenna have been building an interdisciplinary project in Oxford spanning the business school, history faculty, and a medieval college and spanning research, teaching, and public outreach. We would now like to report on our efforts from the perspective of a co-director (McKenna) and a research assistant (Orr) after more than two years of operations. In teaching, we have built a library of case studies, based on the work of our students (MBAs, Executives, PhDs, and undergraduates) that are taught to these students and bring them into the museums, libraries, businesses, and hospitals across Oxford. Thus the study of management is fused with material culture across historic sites in the context of global business history. Similarly, our doctoral funding crosses disciplinary fields, supporting students in area studies, economics, history, law, and archeology. All students all join Brasenose College, itself a multidisciplinary institution in Oxford. Meanwhile, in our research, the GHoC project supports not only doctoral students but postdoctoral students and pre-doctoral research assistants (cue Becky Orr) who share their research through seminars and conferences and also contribute to building course materials and supporting tutorial teaching. In particular, we will describe our research on “Fidelity Guarantee Insurance” which is supported by an undergraduate who will write a case study on it as part of the undergraduate Business History elective even as Orr and McKenna write an academic version for a journal. Finally, our collaboration has supported the British Academy’s research project on the Future of the Corporation which draws upon global teams of academics and practitioners. All of our work is funded by philanthropy from international donors who view our collaborative framework as incredibly relevant to contemporary debates on capitalism in the modern world. Collaboration at its finest!