Gustav Schmoller and the German Historical School: Revisiting the Intellectual Roots of Business History at Harvard

Abstract This article traces the intellectual lineage between the German Historical School of Political Economy—particularly the work of Gustav Schmoller—and the formation of business history at Harvard Business School. It reconstructs a connection that remains insufficiently recognized in accounts of the discipline’s origins, situating its emergence within a broader transatlantic exchange of ideas and academic practices around the turn of the twentieth century. The article shows how Schmoller’s approach to political economy informed early business education at Harvard through key intermediaries such as William J. Ashley and Edwin F. Gay, and how these influences were subsequently embraced and advanced within the Harvard milieu. Focusing on the divergent yet complementary contributions of N. S. B. Gras and Arthur H. Cole, it highlights Harvard’s role as an intellectual incubator rather than a point of origin. In doing so, the article recovers a genealogy of business history and considers its implications for the field’s self-understanding.