Reconsidering the rise of ‘shareholder value’ in the United States, 1960-2000

Blake Edward Taylor

Economic History Working Papers from London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History

Abstract: This study analyses thousands of corporate annual reports and financial data from 1960-2000 to propose an early history of the term ‘shareholder value’ in the United States. Scholarly interest in ‘shareholder value’ has burgeoned since 2000, but still little is known about the term’s origins. My findings suggest that corporate managers’ intentional and repeated use of the term did not begin until the early 1980s and was not widespread until the 1990s. Further, my analysis of General Electric Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, and The Coca-Cola Company suggests that adopting ‘shareholder value’ rhetoric likely had little impact on the performance of these case study firms.

Keywords: corporate governance; shareholder; corporations; firm behaviour; corporate payout; corporate control; firm objectives; management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D21 G30 G34 G35 L21 N82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2015-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn, nep-his and nep-hme
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:wpaper:60967

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