Environment and trade -- Theoretical frameworks for analyzing the development of institutions in interaction with their environment -- Universal building blocks : itinerant traders, family firms, ships, and basic contracts -- Varying organizational building blocks : three institutions, three paths of migration (sea loan, funduq/caravanserai, and commenda) -- The commenda (features, origins, migration, modifications) -- Family firms in three regions -- Merchant networks -- Trade by rulers and states -- The origins of the business corporation -- The Dutch East India Company -- The English East India Company -- Why did the corporation only evolve in Europe?.