Sylla and Wright's statistics of new US special incorporations in 1790-1860 show that they exceeded those in France, Prussia and the UK, but the aggregate paid-up share capitals of extant companies were not so far apart in 1860. The UK continued to lead corporatisation, as measured by the ratio...

The contrast between the findings of the present authors and Cheffins, Chambers and Koustas is explained by their addressing different sizes of firms. Chandler's view of the relative incidence of the divorce of ownership from control among large firms remains unsupported by any quantitative...

There is a growing literature on the history of investment in Britain. However, the role played by women as investors has been almost wholly ignored. This paper argues that women were an important class of stock market investors and produces empirical evidence, most notably share registers, to...

This paper explores the history of the new issue prospectus on the London Stock Exchange from the advent of limited liability to World War II. The varying types of securities being offered to an increasingly large public influenced the nature of the information provided, and the increasing...

Because ownership was already more divorced from control in the largest stock market of 1911 (London) than in the largest stock market of 1995 (New York), the consequences for the economy, for good or ill, could have been considerable. Using a large sample of quoted companies with capital of £1...

In 1900 US business corporations were dominated by plutocratic family owners, while British and French quoted companies showed higher levels of divorce of shareholding owners from management controllers. Distinctive European 'democratic' corporate governance rules explain some of Europe's...