SEAS OF MERIT: HIRING CAPTAINS AND SHAPING PERFORMANCE IN THE DUTCH VOC

Abstract

Historical state-chartered enterprise has increasingly become a focal point in organizational inquiry. Much of this work has focused on principal-agent problems: how the executive board in the home country issued top-down directives to align overseas employees’ actions with state goals. However, little attention has been given to employees’ bottom-up responses to job insecurity. In this study, I research the captains’ decisions in balancing crew welfare against voyage speed in the Dutch United East India Company. This dilemma reflects a deeper tension between pro- fessional identity (maritime norms of responsibility) and corporate identity (firm culture of efficiency). Leveraging a meticulously compiled dataset of over 8,000 ship entries and 450,000 person-trip records from 1700 to 1795, this study examines job insecurity through captains’ hiring sources. Findings show that externally hired cap- tains initially prioritized crew protection, while internally promoted ones favored speed and efficiency. This gap faded in later voyages, likely due to learning and the acquisition of firm-specific skills. After the 1742 professionalization reforms, inter- nally promoted captains became increasingly vital, as the company placed greater emphasis on internal advancement. This study contributes to the ongoing debate on how micro-level decisions interlock macro-level performance and even the global labor market structure during maritime periods.