IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ehsrev/v74y2021i2p496-521.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Elite directors, London finance, and British overseas expansion: Victorian railway networks, 1860–1900

Author

Listed:
  • Shima Amini
  • Steven Toms

Abstract

This article considers how international economic expansion impacts on the composition of elite groups on boards of companies. We examine, why, at the height of the British Empire, boards of national, imperial, and international railway companies, financed from London, were dominated by elites drawn differentially from the aristocracy, the military, finance, and politics. To investigate the reasons for these differences, we conduct a social network analysis of railway company boards in three countries during the second half of the nineteenth century. Results reveal that aristocratic directors were dominant in Britain, military directors in India, and financier directors in Argentina, suggesting that their influence drew on local knowledge, resource access, and network connections. They did not serve on boards for merely ornamental purposes.

Suggested Citation

  • Shima Amini & Steven Toms, 2021. "Elite directors, London finance, and British overseas expansion: Victorian railway networks, 1860–1900," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 496-521, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:74:y:2021:i:2:p:496-521
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13044
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13044
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ehr.13044?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Braggion, Fabio & Moore, Lyndon, 2013. "The Economic Benefits of Political Connections in Late Victorian Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(1), pages 142-176, March.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry, 1995. "Financing Infrastructure in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Railway Age," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 10(1), pages 75-91, February.
    3. Grossman, Richard S. & Imai, Masami, 2016. "Taking the lord's name in vain: The impact of connected directors on 19th century British banks," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 75-93.
    4. Janette Rutterford, 2006. "The merchant banker, the broker and the company chairman: A new issue case study," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 45-68.
    5. Shima Amini & Steven Toms, 2018. "Accessing capital markets: Aristocrats and new share issues in the British bicycle boom of the 1890s," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(2), pages 231-256, February.
    6. Gareth Campbell & John D. Turner, 2011. "Substitutes for legal protection: corporate governance and dividends in Victorian Britain," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(2), pages 571-597, May.
    7. Casson, Mark, 2009. "The World's First Railway System: Enterprise, Competition, and Regulation on the Railway Network in Victorian Britain," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199213979.
    8. H. S. Ferns, 1950. "Investment And Trade Between Britain And Argentina In The Nineteenth Century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 3(2), pages 203-218, December.
    9. Scott, John, 1988. "Social Network Analysis and Intercorporate Relations," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 23(1), pages 53-68, December.
    10. Graeme G. Acheson & Gareth Campbell & John D. Turner, 2017. "Who financed the expansion of the equity market? Shareholder clienteles in Victorian Britain," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 607-637, May.
    11. Thorner, Daniel, 1951. "Great Britain and the Development of India's Railways," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 389-402, October.
    12. W. J. Macpherson, 1955. "Investment In Indian Railways, 1845–1875," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 8(2), pages 177-186, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bai, Ling & Xiong, Long & Zhao, Na & Xia, Ke & Jiang, Xiong-Fei, 2022. "Dynamical structure of social map in ancient China," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 607(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Okazaki, Tetsuji & Sawada, Michiru, 2017. "Measuring the extent and implications of corporate political connections in prewar Japan," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 17-35.
    2. Braggion, Fabio & Dwarkasing, Narly & Moore, Lyndon, 2022. "Value creating mergers: British bank consolidation, 1885–1925," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. James Foreman-Peck & Leslie Hannah, 2012. "Some Consequences of the Early Twentieth Century Divorce of Ownership from Control," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-864, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    4. Turner, John D., 2024. "Three centuries of corporate governance in the UK," QUCEH Working Paper Series 24-01, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    5. Acheson, Graeme G. & Coyle, Christopher & Jordan, David P. & Turner, John D., 2018. "Share trading activity and the rise of the rentier in the UK before 1920," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2018-04, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    6. Bogle, David A. & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2020. "Capital market development over the long run: The portfolios of UK life assurers over two centuries," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2020-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    7. Quinn, William & Turner, John D., 2021. "Riding the Bubble or Taken for a Ride? Investors in the British Bicycle Mania," QBS Working Paper Series 2021/08, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    8. Jansson, Walter, 2018. "Stock markets, banks and economic growth in the UK, 1850–1913," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 263-296, December.
    9. Marc Deloof & Ine Paeleman, 2024. "International entrepreneurship without investor protection: Evidence from initial public offerings in Belgium before the First World War," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(2), pages 523-553, May.
    10. Quinn, William & Turner, John D., 2021. "Riding the bubble or taken for a ride? Investors in the British bicycle mania," QUCEH Working Paper Series 21-07, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    11. Braggion, Fabio & Dwarkasing, Narly & Moore, Lyndon, 2020. "Value creating mergers – British bank consolidation, 1885-1925," CEPR Discussion Papers 14663, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Imen Ghadhab, 2023. "Bonding, signaling theory and dividend policy: Evidence from multinational firms," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(1), pages 69-83, February.
    13. Eric Hilt, 2014. "History of American Corporate Governance: Law, Institutions, and Politics," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, December.
    14. Turner, John D., 2017. "The development of English company law before 1900," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2017-01, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    15. Fay, Marianne & Martimort, David & Straub, Stéphane, 2021. "Funding and financing infrastructure: The joint-use of public and private finance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    16. Zhong, Xiang & Liu, Jiajun & Gao, Yong & Wu, Lun, 2017. "Analysis of co-occurrence toponyms in web pages based on complex networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 466(C), pages 462-475.
    17. Thanne Mafaziya Nijamdeen & Jean Huge & Hajaniaina Ratsimbazafy & Kodikara Arachchilage Sunanda Kodikara & Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, 2022. "A social network analysis of mangrove management stakeholders in Sri Lanka's Northern Province," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/349602, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    18. Ian Webster, 2022. "Making the municipal capital market in nineteenth‐century England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 56-79, February.
    19. Grant Fleming & Zhangxin (Frank) Liu & David Merrett & Simon Ville, 2021. "Underpricing in a developing capital market: Australian equity issuances, 1920–39†," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(3), pages 831-855, August.
    20. Lychakov, Nikita, 2018. "Government-made bank distress: Industrialisation policies and the Russian financial crisis of 1899-1902," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2018-11, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:74:y:2021:i:2:p:496-521. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ehsukea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.