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Corporations in the US and Europe 1790-1860

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  • Les Hannah

Abstract

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 of corporate share capital to GDP. The distinctive features of US corporations were that they were small, diverse and numerous, while UK corporations were larger, more capital-intensive, less prone to disappear and had more dispersed ownership.

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  • Les Hannah, 2014. "Corporations in the US and Europe 1790-1860," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 865-899, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:56:y:2014:i:6:p:865-899
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2013.837893
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Crafts, Nicholas, 2017. "The Postwar British Productivity Failure," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1142, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    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. Robert J. Bennett & Harry Smith & Piero Montebruno, 2020. "The Population of Non-corporate Business Proprietors in England and Wales 1891–1911," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(8), pages 1341-1372, November.
    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. 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.
    6. Rochat, Jean, 2016. "Change for continuity: the making of the société anonyme in 19th century france," Working Papers unige:90196, University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History.
    7. Bennett, Robert J. & Montebruno, Piero & Van Lieshout, Carry & Smith, Harry, 2022. "Business entry and exit: career changes of proprietors in England and Wales (1851-81) using record-linkage," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113867, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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