FROM UNITY TO DIVISION: HOW JEALOUSY CONTRIBUTED TO FAMILY BUSINESS FAILURE. THE CASE OF COMB-MAKING ENTREPRENEURS IN THE PAYS D’OLMES (SOUTHERN FRANCE)

Abstract

The Pays d’Olmes (100 km south of Toulouse) is a geographic area where the soil is so poor
that its inhabitants, since the Middle Ages, have had to seek out additional income, particularly
in industry. In addition to steel and wool, they produced jet jewellery and combs. In the end
they failed and this failure is due to a factor that has been underestimated because of economic
historians’ preference for quantifiable data: feelings. The Protestant community of Léran,
Le-Peyrat and La-Bastide-sur-l’Hers specialised in the making of jet jewellery and combs. From
the 18th century to the 1840s
, this community was very close, united by their shared values
of manual craft, Protestantism, liberal and republican ideas. As they were not numerous and
their religion was prohibited in the 18th century, the families of combs entrepreneurs became
very interweaved. In addition, the productive system involved the different branches of the
same family. The 1840s
marked the apogee of this family capitalism with mechanization and
more links to the outside world. The outcome of these developments was not shared equally
among all the family, however, and the success of Léo Bez became a source of envy. Within
the family, the strongly negative emotion of jealousy began to emerge.
The main group of entrepreneurs who were all cousins and brothers-in-law became divided.
Family rivalries, mainly due to jealousy, led to an internal struggle with a lot of underhand
tactics. It pulled apart the fundamental stability that is at the heart of family capitalism and
contributed to its failure. While it is not possible to generalize from this case, the significance
of family rivalry was such that it suggests that it is worthy of consideration in the analysis of
family dynamics in other industrial areas.