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Clogs to Clogs in Three Generations? Explaining Entrepreneurial Performance in Britain Since 1850

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  • Nicholas, Tom

Abstract

Research into sculture and entrepreneurship in Britain has been dominated by casual empiricism. This article shows the benefits of using a new method. Lifetime wealth accumulation is specified as a measure of entrepreneurial performance, and applied to data collected from dictionaries of business biography. Industry, region, and religious dissent are ruled out as explanations of entrepreneurial performance. Education and entrepreneurial type are the important predictors. Firm inheritors and those receiving a high-status education experienced relatively low lifetime rates of wealth accumulation. Firm founders, managers, and individuals with a lower-status education were comparatively successful.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas, Tom, 1999. "Clogs to Clogs in Three Generations? Explaining Entrepreneurial Performance in Britain Since 1850," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(3), pages 688-713, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:59:y:1999:i:03:p:688-713_02
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    Cited by:

    1. [multiple or corporate authorship]., 2006. "Inherited Family Firms and Management Practices: The Case for Modernising the UK's Inheritance Tax," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57990, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Smith, Harry & Bennett, Robert J. & van Lieshout, Carry & Montebruno, Piero, 2020. "Households and entrepreneurship in England and Wales, 1851-1911," MPRA Paper 102647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Alessandro Nuvolari & Pier Angelo Toninelli & Michelangelo Vasta, 2018. "What makes a successful (and famous) entrepreneur? Historical evidence from Italy (XIX-XX centuries)," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(3), pages 425-447.
    4. Hannah, Leslie & Foreman-Peck, James S., 2023. "Business Forms and Business Performance in UK Manufacturing 1871-81," MPRA Paper 119447, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Cummins, Neil, 2021. "Where Is the Middle Class? Evidence from 60 Million English Death and Probate Records, 1892–1992," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 359-404, June.
    6. Robert J. Bennett & Harry Smith & Piero Montebruno & Carry van Lieshout, 2022. "Changes in Victorian entrepreneurship in England and Wales 1851-1911: Methodology and business population estimates," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(7), pages 1211-1243, September.
    7. Alberto Rinaldi & Giulia Tagliazucchi, 2018. "Women Entrepreneurs in Italy: A Prosopographic Study," Department of Economics 0129, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    8. Ortiz-Villajos, José M., 2024. "Dynamics of innovation over time: Evidence from the Spanish business elite," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 378-394.
    9. B. Zorina Khan, 2015. "Invisible Women: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Family Firms in France during Early Industrialization," NBER Working Papers 20854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ortiz-Villajos, José M. & Sotoca, Sonia, 2018. "Innovation and business survival: A long-term approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1418-1436.
    11. Maria Saez-Marti & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2008. "Preferences as Human Capital: Rational Choice Theories of Endogenous Preferences and Socioeconomic Changes," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 81-94, Autumn.
    12. Neil Cummins, 2022. "The hidden wealth of English dynasties, 1892–2016," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(3), pages 667-702, August.

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