Was Marshall Right? Managerial Failure and Corporate Ownership in Edwardian Britain
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Michael Aldous, Queen's University Belfast; Philip Tadelle Fliers, Queen's University Belfast; John Turner, Queen's University Belfast
Version: View help for Version V1
Name | File Type | Size | Last Modified |
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AldousFliersTurner - Was Marshall Right - Replication kit (JEH).zip | application/zip | 1.3 MB | 11/16/2022 06:26:AM |
Project Citation:
Aldous, Michael, Fliers, Philip Tadelle, and Turner, John. Was Marshall Right? Managerial Failure and Corporate Ownership in Edwardian Britain. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-11-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/E182996V1
Project Description
Summary:
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This is a replication package for Aldous, Fliers and Turner (2023).
Alfred Marshall argued that the malaise of public companies in Edwardian Britain was due to the separation of ownership from control and a lack of professional management. In this paper, we examine the ownership and control of the c.1,700 largest British companies in 1911. We find that most public companies had a separation of ownership and control, but that this had little effect on their performance. We also find that manager characteristics that proxy for amateurism are uncorrelated with performance. Ultimately, our evidence suggests that, if Marshall was correct in identifying a corporate malaise in Britain, its source lay elsewhere.
Alfred Marshall argued that the malaise of public companies in Edwardian Britain was due to the separation of ownership from control and a lack of professional management. In this paper, we examine the ownership and control of the c.1,700 largest British companies in 1911. We find that most public companies had a separation of ownership and control, but that this had little effect on their performance. We also find that manager characteristics that proxy for amateurism are uncorrelated with performance. Ultimately, our evidence suggests that, if Marshall was correct in identifying a corporate malaise in Britain, its source lay elsewhere.
Funding Sources:
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Leverhulme Trust (United Kingdom) (RPG-2018-099)
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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Ownership;
Control;
Agency problems;
Family firms;
Managerial failure
Geographic Coverage:
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United Kingdom
Time Period(s):
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1911 – 1911 (1911)
Collection Date(s):
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2019 – 2021
Universe:
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Circa 1,700 of the largest public companies listed on UK stock exchanges in 1911
Data Type(s):
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observational data
Methodology
Response Rate:
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Not applicable
Sampling:
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Circa 1,700 of the largest public companies listed on UK stock exchanges in 1911
Data Source:
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Bassett, Herbert H. Men of Note in Finance and Commerce, With Which Is Incorporated Men of Office. London: Effingham Wilson, 1900.
Bassett, Herbert H. Businessmen at Home and Abroad: A Biographical Directory of Partners, Principals, Directors, and Managers of Important Business Firms and Institutions at Home and Abroad, 1912-13. London: St Paul’s Chambers, 1912.
Dictionary of Business Biography.
Financial Times Historical Archive.
Investor’s Monthly Manual, Dec. 1910.
Bassett, Herbert H. Businessmen at Home and Abroad: A Biographical Directory of Partners, Principals, Directors, and Managers of Important Business Firms and Institutions at Home and Abroad, 1912-13. London: St Paul’s Chambers, 1912.
Dictionary of Business Biography.
Financial Times Historical Archive.
Investor’s Monthly Manual, Dec. 1910.
Register of Defunct Companies, 1979.
Register of Defunct Companies, 1990.
The Times Digital Archive.
The Investors’ Four Shilling Yearbook. 1912. London: Charles Letts and Co.
The Times Digital Archive.
The Investors’ Four Shilling Yearbook. 1912. London: Charles Letts and Co.
Collection Mode(s):
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other
Scales:
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Not applicable
Weights:
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Not applicable
Unit(s) of Observation:
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Firms
Geographic Unit:
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National
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