Between Companies: The Arbitration of 1654 and the Evolution of Corporate Strategy in the East Indies Trade*

This article examines the origins, constitution, and consequences of the arbitration established in 1654 between the English and Dutch East India Companies. Conceived in the aftermath of the First Anglo-Dutch War, this procedure prompted the directors of both companies to construct a new relationship between their organizations, aligning their goals, institutions, and political and economic strategies. This shift had significant effects on the future of the East Indies trade, and it influenced the evolution of English and Dutch state relations in Europe. Both companies’ directors used state institutions to establish their own system of inter-company relations, challenging our vision of the period as one dominated by an emergent “modern” interstate system.