Edward J Balleisen
| Title: | Associate Professor |
| Office Location: | 210 Carr Building |
| Office Phone: | (919) 684-2699 |
| Email Address: | eballeis@duke.edu |
Education
- PhD Yale University, 1995
- M.Phil Yale University, 1992
- BA Princeton University, 1987
Research Interests
My research explores the evolving "culture of American capitalism" - the institutions, values, and practices that both structured and limited commercial activity. I am fascinated by the shifting meanings of "success" and "failure" in America's business culture, and by the intersections among economic, legal, social, and cultural change. Having completed a major study of individual bankruptcy in nineteenth-century America (NAVIGATING FAILURE: BANKRUPTCY AND COMMERCIAL SOCIETY IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA, UNC Press, 2001), I have turned my attention to the history of commercial fraud in the United States, and especially organizational fraud against consumers and investors, from the early nineteenth century to the present. This research especially focuses on evolving mechanisms of business "self-regulation," whether by the commercial/trade press, trade associations like the National Association of Credit Men, or non-profit institutions like the Better Business Bureau.
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Howard D. Johnson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Duke University Arts & Sciences, April 2005
- $5000 Hunt Family Publication Award, Duke University, September, 2004
- Fellow, James Willard Hurst Legal History Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, American Society of Legal History, June 2001
- Named "Hunt Family Assistant Professor", Duke University, December, 2000
- George Washington Eggleston Prize, Yale University Department of History, 1996
Representative Publications
Books- Navigating Failure: Bankruptcy and Commercial Society in Antebellum America (University of North Carolina Press, March, 2001). [click_for_more_information]
- Scenes from a Corporate Makeover: Columbia/HCA and Heathcare Fraud, 1992-2001 (Fuqua School of Management, Duke University, June, 2003). [click_here_for_more_information]
- "Bankruptcy and the Entrepreneurial Ethos in Antebellum American Law." Australian Journal of Legal History 8:1 (Winter, 2004): 61-82. [pdf file of article]