Entrepreneurial behaviour and family networks in Dutch trade with Russia, 1590-1750

Dutch merchants operating internationally used four basic business strategies: They specialised geographically and in particular products, maintained long-term business relations with buyers and suppliers, cooperated with merchants in the same line of business, and transferred their businesses to the next generation. These strategies produced family networks in particular lines of business. This chapter discusses early modern Dutch trade with Russia and the business of one of the many Dutch “houses” trading with the Russian port of Arkhangelʹsk – that of Ruts and some of its related families. It shows how Dutch merchants used the above-mentioned strategies to survive economically in the Russian market. It also shows that this produced family networks in Dutch trade with Russia