Joost Jonker is specialised in the history of finance and business from the sixteenth century up to the present day. His research and teaching focus on the question why some businesses and markets are more successful than others. Success or failure may be linked to accidental reasons - dependent on time and place - such as incompetent management or unfavourable regulations. There are, however, often deeper reasons, such as, for example, a country’s economic structure, cultural factors, social divisions or resistance to established interests. How do we trace all those factors? How do we weigh them against each other? And what can this teach companies and markets in today’s world?

Jonker has been working in the Economic and Social History Department at Utrecht University since 1999, becoming Associate Professor in 2008. Together with Dr Oscar Gelderblom, he jointly heads the research programme The Evolution of Financial Markets in Pre-Industrial Europe: A Comparative Analysis, a research programme subsidised by the European Science Foundation. Jonker was previously employed as a contract researcher at Utrecht University and as a consultant at Stratagem Strategic Research BV. He has published a large number of books and articles on the history of finance and business.