Private Contracting, Law and Finance

Arbeitspapier

In the late nineteenth century Britain had almost no mandatory shareholder protections, but had very developed financial markets. We argue that private contracting between shareholders and corporations meant that the absence of statutory protections was immaterial. Using circa 500 articles of association from before 1900, we code the protections offered to shareholders in these private contracts. We find that firms voluntarily offered shareholders many of the protections which were subsequently included in statutory corporate law. We also find that companies offering better protection to shareholders had less concentrated ownership.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: QMS Research Paper ; No. 2019/05

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill ; Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Voting; Proxy Contests; Corporate Governance ; Corporate Finance and Governance: Government Policy and Regulation ; Business and Securities Law ; Economic History: Financial Markets and Institutions: Europe: Pre-1913 ; Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: Pre-1913 ; Micro-Business History: Europe: Pre-1913
• Thema: Law and finance ; ADRI ; shareholder protection ; corporate ownership ; common law

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Acheson, Graeme ; Campbell, Gareth ; Turner, John D.
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Management School
• (wo): Belfast
• (wann): 2019

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: doi:10.2139/ssrn.3342312
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/271225
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ