Tracing the evolution of large business enterprises in Australia, from the giants of the nineteenth century to the contemporary leaders, this study delves into why the market leaders became the major players. It examines the crucial elements of their success, and their roles in leading the Australian economy. The book provides a useful evaluation of the factors that have led to Australia's competitive success by investigating the evolution of its business enterprises.

Stock and station agents have been a key driving force behind rural-led economic development in Australia and New Zealand. By providing remote and inexperienced farmers with vital finance, marketing, and technical services and advice through expansion and crisis, they have filled an entrepreneurial gap. In the twentieth century, the leading agents expanded their range of activities and became some of Australasia's earliest nationwide firms and biggest businesses. The Rural Entrepreneurs provides new insights in understanding Australasia's rural history and economic development.

Australia's economic history is the story of the transformation of an indigenous economy and a small convict settlement into a nation of nearly 23 million people with advanced economic, social and political structures. It is a history of vast lands with rich, exploitable resources, of adversity in war, and of prosperity and nation building. It is also a history of human behaviour and the institutions created to harness and govern human endeavour. This account provides a systematic and comprehensive treatment of the nation's economic foundations, growth, resilience and future, in an engaging,...