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The Population of Non-corporate Business Proprietors in England and Wales 1891–1911

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  • Robert J. Bennett
  • Harry Smith
  • Piero Montebruno

Abstract

This article uses population censuses to provide the first consistent counts of the population of business proprietors for 1891–1911. After appropriate adjustments for imperfect Census design the article confirms the persistence of own account self-employed as the most common businesses throughout the period. However, it identifies a turning point around 1901 when the business numbers decisively shifted towards larger firms, where employers with waged workers began substituting for many own account businesses. Developments were, however, multi-faceted, with important sector differences, and some fields of female business beginning to take off over the period, especially in retail and the professions.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:62:y:2020:i:8:p:1341-1372
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2018.1534959
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. D. M. Knox, 1958. "The Development Of The Tied House System In London," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 66-83.
    2. P. Wardley, 2001. "Debate - On the Ranking of Firms: A Response to Jeremy and Farnie," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 119-134.
    3. Les Hannah, 2014. "Corporations in the US and Europe 1790-1860," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 865-899, September.
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    6. Montebruno, Piero & Bennett, Robert J. & Van Lieshout, Carry & Smith, Harry & Satchell, Max, 2019. "Shifts in agrarian entrepreneurship in mid-Victorian England and Wales," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113866, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Leslie Hannah & Robert Bennett, 2022. "Large‐scale Victorian manufacturers: Reconstructing the lost 1881 UK employer census," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(3), pages 830-856, August.
    2. Brian D. Varian, 2022. "Review of periodical literature for 2020: (v) 1850–1945," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 263-275, February.
    3. Montebruno, Piero, 2018. "Adjustment Weights 1891-1911: Weights to adjust entrepreneur numbers for non-response and misallocation bias in Censuses 1891-1911. Working paper 11," MPRA Paper 103194, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Bennett, Robert & Montebruno, Piero & Smith, Harry & van Lieshout, Carry, 2018. "Reconstructing entrepreneur and business numbers for censuses 1851-81. Working paper 9," MPRA Paper 103529, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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