Places the rise of big business in Australia in a comparative context through a study of its 100 largest firms from 1900-1965. Shows that Australia's top firms were dominated up to WWII by
those from the resource and service industries, and highlights the importance of high levels of foreign direct investment in the resources and manufacturing industries. Employs modern theories
of the firm to explore business behavior in more depth than in previous writings on Australian business history, and details aspects such as relationships between miners and refiners in the
base metals industry in the 1930s. Merrett is associate professor of management at the University of Melbourne. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
