IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tky/fseres/2007cf487.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Pioneering Modern Corporate Governance: a View from London in 1900

Author

Listed:
  • Leslie Hannah

    (Faculty of Economis, University of Tokyo and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)

Abstract

Around 1900 Britain was exceptionally suited to pioneering large scale enterprises because of the precocious development of its equity markets and London's experimentation with a more eclectic range of corporate governance techniques than the world's smaller and less cosmopolitan financial centers. Information dissemination, incentives and reputation - developed by a serendipitous mix of legal compulsions and flexible voluntarism - set the scene for the growth of large, UK-based, national and international corporations in the twentieth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Leslie Hannah, 2007. "Pioneering Modern Corporate Governance: a View from London in 1900," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-487, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    • Handle: RePEc:tky:fseres:2007cf487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cirje.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp/research/dp/2007/2007cf487.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Wardley, 1999. "The Emergence of Big Business: The Largest Corporate Employers of Labour in the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States c. 1907," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 88-116.
    2. Miwa, Yoshiro & Ramseyer, J. Mark, 2006. "The Fable of the Keiretsu," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226532707.
    3. Kinghorn, Janice Rye & Nye, John Vincent, 1996. "The Scale of Production in Western Economic Development: A Comparison of Official Industry Statistics in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, 1905–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(1), pages 90-112, March.
    4. Landes, David S., 1949. "French Entrepreneurship and Industrial Growth in the Nineteenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 45-61, May.
    5. Armando Gomes, 2000. "Going Public without Governance: Managerial Reputation Effects," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 615-646, April.
    6. Caroline Fohlin, 2001. "The Balancing Act of German Universal Banks and English Deposit Banks, 1880-1913," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 1-24.
    7. A. J. Arnold, 1997. "'Publishing your private affairs to the world': corporate financial disclosures in the UK 1900-24," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 143-173.
    8. Whittington, Richard & Mayer, Michael, 2000. "The European Corporation: Strategy, Structure, and Social Science," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199242085.
    9. Naomi R. Lamoreaux, 2005. "Legal Regime and Contractual Flexibility: A Comparison of Business's Organizational Choices in France and the United States during the Era of Industrialization," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 7(1), pages 28-61.
    10. Rajan, Raghuram & Laeven, Luc & Klapper, Leora F., 2004. "Business Environment and Firm Entry: Evidence from International Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 4366, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. repec:cup:buhirw:v:80:y:2006:i:02:p:263-295_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Luigi Zingales, 1995. "Insider Ownership and the Decision to Go Public," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(3), pages 425-448.
    13. Tufano, Peter, 1997. "Business Failure, Judicial Intervention, and Financial Innovation: Restructuring U.S. Railroads in the Nineteenth Century," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 1-40, April.
    14. Lance Davis, 1966. "The Capital Markets and Industrial Concentration: The U.S. and U.K., a Comparative Study," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 19(2), pages 255-272, August.
    15. Fear, Jeffrey & Kobrak, Christopher, 2006. "Diverging Paths: Accounting for Corporate Governance in America and Germany," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(1), pages 1-48, April.
    16. Brian Cheffins, 2004. "Mergers and the Evolution of Patterns of Corporate Ownership and Control: The British Experience," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 256-284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabio Braggion & Lyndon Moore, 2011. "Dividend Policies in an Unregulated Market: The London Stock Exchange, 1895--1905," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(9), pages 2935-2973.
    2. Grossman, Richard S. & Imai, Masami, 2016. "Taking the lord's name in vain: The impact of connected directors on 19th century British banks," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 75-93.
    3. Blanche Segrestin & Andrew Johnston & Armand Hatchuel, 2019. "The Separation Of Directors And Managers: A Historical Examination Of The Status Of Managers," Post-Print hal-01957329, HAL.
    4. Braggion, Fabio & Moore, Lyndon, 2013. "The Economic Benefits of Political Connections in Late Victorian Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(1), pages 142-176, March.
    5. James Foreman-Peck & Leslie Hannah, 2012. "Some Consequences of the Early Twentieth Century Divorce of Ownership from Control," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-864, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    6. Marc Flandreau & Juan Flores & Norbert Gaillard & Sebastian Nieto-Parra, 2011. "The Changing Role of Global Financial Brands in the Underwriting of Foreign Government Debt (1815-2010)," IHEID Working Papers 15-2011, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    7. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "The 'Divorce' of ownership from control from 1900 onwards: Re-calibrating imagined global trends," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(4), pages 404-438.
    8. Langlois, Richard N., 2013. "Business groups and the natural state," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 14-26.
    9. Fjesme, Sturla L. & Galpin, Neal E. & Moore, Lyndon, 2021. "Rejected stock exchange applicants," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 502-521.
    10. Jansson, Walter, 2018. "Stock markets, banks and economic growth in the UK, 1850–1913," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 263-296, December.
    11. William Quinn, 2019. "Squeezing the bears: cornering risk and limits on arbitrage during the ‘British bicycle mania’, 1896–8," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(4), pages 1286-1311, November.
    12. Hannah, Leslie, 2017. "The London Stock Exchange 1869-1929: new bloody statistics for old?," Economic History Working Papers 82404, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    13. Quinn, William, 2016. "Squeezing the bears: Cornering risk and limits on arbitrage during the 'British Bicycle Mania', 1896-1898," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2016-05, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    14. Leslie Hannah, 2018. "The London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929: new statistics for old?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(4), pages 1349-1356, November.
    15. Burhop, Carsten & Chambers, David & Cheffins, Brian, 2014. "Regulating IPOs: Evidence from going public in London, 1900–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 60-76.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "Pioneering Modern Corporate Governance: a View from London in 1900 (Subsequently published in "Enterprise and Society", vol. 8, no. 3, September 2007, pp. 642-86. )," CARF F-Series CARF-F-093, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    2. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "What did Morgan's Men really do?," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-465, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "The Divorce of Ownership from Control from 1900: Re-calibrating Imagined Global Historical Trends," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-460, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    4. Huyghebaert, Nancy & Van Hulle, Cynthia, 2006. "Structuring the IPO: Empirical evidence on the portions of primary and secondary shares," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 296-320, January.
    5. Kling, Gerhard, 2006. "The long-term impact of mergers and the emergence of a merger wave in pre-World-War I Germany," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 667-688, October.
    6. Holmen, Martin & Hogfeldt, Peter, 2004. "A law and finance analysis of initial public offerings," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 324-358, July.
    7. Randall Morck & Daniel Wolfenzon & Bernard Yeung, 2004. "Corporate Governance, Economic Entrenchment and Growth," NBER Working Papers 10692, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Patrascu (Sandu) Diana – Ramona, 2014. "The Decision Of Going Public – When, Where And Why?," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 166-172, February.
    9. Paolo Di Martino & Michelangelo Vasta, 2010. "Companies' insolvency and ‘the nature of the firm’ in Italy, 1920s–70s1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(1), pages 137-164, February.
    10. Doraszelski, Ulrich, 2004. "Measuring returns to scale in nineteenth-century French industry," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 256-281, July.
    11. Chod, Jiri & Lyandres, Evgeny, 2011. "Strategic IPOs and product market competition," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 45-67, April.
    12. Leslie Hannah, 2007. "Logistics, Market Size and Giant Plants in the Early 20th Century: A Global View," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-486, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    13. Naomi R. Lamoreaux & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2006. "Contractual Tradeoffs and SMEs Choice of Organizational Form, A View from U.S. and French History, 1830-2000," NBER Working Papers 12455, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Nicodano, Giovanna & Regis, Luca, 2019. "A trade-off theory of ownership and capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 715-735.
    15. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2012. "The impact of business regulatory reforms on economic growth," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 285-307.
    16. Miguel García-Posada & Juan Mora-Sanguinetti, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and enforcement institutions: disaggregated evidence for Spain," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 49-74, August.
    17. Yin‐Hua Yeh & Pei‐Gi Shu & Re‐Jin Guo, 2008. "Ownership Structure and IPO Valuation—Evidence from Taiwan," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(1), pages 141-161, March.
    18. Toru Yoshikawa & Abdul A. Rasheed, 2010. "Family Control and Ownership Monitoring in Family‐Controlled Firms in Japan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 274-295, March.
    19. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/8221 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Sergey Stepanov, 2012. "Takeovers under Asymmetric Information: Block Trades and Tender Offers in Equilibrium," Working Papers w0185, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    21. Wagner, W.B., 2002. "Divestment, Entrepreneurial Incentives and the Decision to go Public," Discussion Paper 2002-47, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tky:fseres:2007cf487. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CIRJE administrative office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ritokjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.