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Corporate Ownership in France: The Importance of History

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  • Antoin E. Murphy

Abstract

This paper attempts to show the importance of history in influencing the structure of corporate ownership in France. The strong concentration of family ownership in France is traced to historical weaknesses in the money and capital markets that forced families to have recourse to self-financing. The weaknesses in the money and capital markets were greatly influenced by two eighteenth century financial traumas arising from John Law's Mississippi System (1716-20) and the financing of the French Revolution through the issue of the assignats in the 1790s.These financial traumas delayed significantly the emergence of banks and the capital market. Further historical factors influencing French corporate ownership were the changes in the inheritance law system at the start of the nineteenth century and, more recently, the emphasis on a pay-as-you-go pension system.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoin E. Murphy, 2004. "Corporate Ownership in France: The Importance of History," NBER Working Papers 10716, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10716
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marco Becht & Colin Mayer, 2002. "Corporate control in Europe," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 112(4), pages 471-498.
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    5. Marco Becht & Fabrizio Barca, 2001. "The control of corporate Europe," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/13302, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. White, Eugene Nelson, 1989. "Was There a Solution to the Ancien Régime's Financial Dilemma?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(3), pages 545-568, September.
    7. Murphy, Antoin E., 1997. "John Law: Economic Theorist and Policy-maker," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198286493.
    8. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    9. Paul M. Healy & Krishna G. Palepu, 2003. "The Fall of Enron," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 3-26, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Prabirjit Sarkar, 2009. "Do the English Legal Origin Countries have More Dispersed Share Ownership and More Developed Financial Systems?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 73-86.
    2. repec:bla:jomstd:v:47:y:2010:i:s2:p:1590-1613 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Eduardo Siandra, 2005. "Uruguay Capital Market: Law-in-the-books or Law-in-action?," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0205, Department of Economics - dECON.

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    • B1 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925

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