My thesis (University of Kent, 2016) argued that the evolving social networks of 1257 company directors from eight English overseas trading companies shaped the English political economy in the seventeenth century. By applying social network analysis, my thesis offers a reinterpretation of the creation of commercial strategies and the formation of the English political economy during the seventeenth century. It highlights the influence of Indian geo-politics on English commercial strategies as well as early modern corporate social responsibility and the importance of non-European agency and cross-cultural networks. The thesis seeks to transform our understanding of organisational behaviour as well as the creation of political economy during the seventeenth century. My background in socioeconomic history provides me with a thorough understanding of the intricate relationships between individuals, institutions and economy, which forms the basis of life globally, in the early modern period as well as now.

My master thesis is an in-depth investigation of the socioeconomic development among the descendants of Dutch migrants living on the island of Amager in Eastern Denmark in the 18th century. It examines how endogamy influenced the demographic development on Amager. Dutch farmers and artisans were invited to Amager by king Christian II in the early sixteenth century and due to privileges bestowed upon them by him and a sequence of Danish kings, they became wealthy. However, to uphold their privileged position in society, they only married within their own community, the parish of Store Magleby. Their tendency to in-marriage (endogamy) allegedly came to an end in 1759 as the schout (bailiff ) of the Dutch community married the daughter of a powerful bailiff from the neighboring Danish parish, Tårnby parish. The thesis tests to what extent this marriage was break with previous traditions and to what extent it alleviated a looming demographic crisis in Store Magleby. The thesis’ conclusions indicate that compared to the growth in the neighboring parish of Tårnby and the growth of the general population in Denmark, Store Magleby parish and the Dutch community experienced a rather negative growth during the span of the 18th century. This negative growth is in contrast to the economic capability of the parish during the eighteenth century.