Válságjelenségek, válságtapasztalatok kolozsvári vállalkozók körében az 1920–1930-as évek fordulóján
Crisis Phenomena and Crisis Experiences among Entrepreneurs in Kolozsvár at the Turn of the 1920s and the 1930s

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to give an insight into the crisis situation and crisis experiences of Transylvanian entrepreneurs, mostly merchants, who went bankrupt at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. In this period, insolvent entrepreneurs trying to avoid bankruptcy could enter into a forced composition with creditors (concordat preventiv) to agree upon the terms of payment with their creditors. The paper examines the documents of 17 compositions with creditors and draws novel conclusions. The insolvency of entrepreneurs was only partly related to the spreading global economic crisis. As the country's economic and financial situation had already been characterized by difficulties and crisis phenomena even before the outbreak of the global economic crisis, the conditions for undisturbed industrial and commercial activity were not available. Local conditions impeding prosperity fundamentally determined the situation and the deteriorating business prospects of the entrepreneurs examined. The crisis history of the Ţesătoria Ardelenă SA textile factory, presented in detail, reveals that the management considered the financial environment alarming as early as in 1926-1927. Of the companies running into debt, those that were bigger had more leeway for crisis management, but the deteriorating financial situation of their partners and customers inevitably had an impact on their business prospects, too. On the other hand, smaller businesses were unable to cope with the drop of prices, which had already started before 1929, the high taxes, the credit shortage and the decrease in purchasing power. It becomes clear from the documents that there was a difference between industries and manufacturing units (retail and wholesale) in terms of when and how deeply the crisis hit. The material kept in the dossiers analyzed provides information mainly about the local textile trade, while it also casts light on the fact that the majority of indebted entrepreneurs were not expecting a deepening, long-lasting crisis.

• Details
• Contents