De Amfioen Sociëteit als organisatorisch experiment: achttiende-eeuws beleid bij de VOC in Oost-Westperspectief

The attention of historians of the Dutch chartered companies has mainly focused on the institutional development in the seventeenth century. Although it is true that both the VOC and WIC had taken their definitive form in the early seventeenth century, the eighteenth century also saw interesting developments, for instance in the case of the Opium Society (Amfioen Sociëteit). This private company, set up by Governor-General Van Imhoff in 1745, was an effort by the VOC to lower its business risk and combatting private trade by outsourcing the opium trade to a separate company. Although the Opium Society was rather profitable in its ten years, English competition quickly lowered profit margins. Nonetheless, the Opium Society proved to be a profitable venture for its shareholder when the Society was abolished in 1794. This study furthermore points to new approaches to study the decline of the Dutch companies in the eighteenth century.