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Shareholder liability regimes in nineteenth-century English banking: The impact upon the market for shares

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  • Hickson, Charles R.
  • Turner, John D.

Abstract

The 1826 Banking Copartnership Act allowed unlimited liability joint stock banks to form freely for the first time. Such banks were criticised by Walter Bagehot because he believed that impecunious individuals would own their shares. As the 1826 Act crucially contained a post-sale-extended liability restriction, Bagehot's view reduces to whether or not this restriction was effective. This article tests the effectiveness of this restriction by using a simple finance model to measure the risk of the shares of limited and unlimited banks, which traded concurrently during our sample period. Using share price data from 1873 to 1888, obtained from the Investor's Monthly Manual, our results indicate that the perceived risk of the unlimited liability banks was greater, and after the general move to limited liability in 1879, perceived risk fell. Furthermore, we also find that, after controlling for size, the unlimited liability banks tended to have a smaller number of shareholders and stickier share prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Hickson, Charles R. & Turner, John D., 2003. "Shareholder liability regimes in nineteenth-century English banking: The impact upon the market for shares," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 99-125, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:ereveh:v:7:y:2003:i:01:p:99-125_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Maggioni, 2011. "The introduction of limited liability in nineteenth century England," Openloc Working Papers 1116, Public policies and local development.
    2. Grossman, Richard, 2017. "Stocks for the Long Run: New Monthly Indices of British Equities, 1869-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 12121, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Graeme G. Acheson & John D. Turner, 2011. "Investor behaviour in a nascent capital market: Scottish bank shareholders in the nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(1), pages 188-213, February.
    4. John D. Turner, 2009. "Wider share ownership?: investors in English and Welsh Bank shares in the nineteenth century1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(s1), pages 167-192, August.
    5. Jenter, Dirk & Aldunate, Felipe & Korteweg, Arthur & Koudijs, Peter, 2021. "Shareholder Liability and Bank Failure," CEPR Discussion Papers 16309, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Hickson, Charles R. & Turner, John D. & McCann, Claire, 2005. "Much ado about nothing: the limitation of liability and the market for 19th century Irish bank stock," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 459-476, July.
    7. Grossman, Richard & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John, 2019. "Before the Cult of Equity: New Monthly Indices of the British Share Market, 1829-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 13717, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Salter, Alexander W. & Veetil, Vipin & White, Lawrence H., 2017. "Extended shareholder liability as a means to constrain moral hazard in insured banks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 153-160.
    9. Paolo Maggioni, 2011. "Limited liability and shares’ pricing: sufficient but not necessary," Openloc Working Papers 1115, Public policies and local development.
    10. Richard S. Grossman & Masami Imai, 2011. "Contingent Capital and Bank Risk-Taking among British Banks before World War I," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2011-003, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.

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