Law, politics and the governance of English and Scottish joint-stock companies, 1600-1850

Mark Freeman, Robin Pearson and James Taylor

Business History, 2013, vol. 55, issue 4, 636-652

Abstract: This article examines the impact of law on corporate governance by means of a case study of joint-stock enterprise in England and Scotland before 1850. Based on a dataset of over 450 company constitutions together with qualitative information on governance practice, it finds little evidence to support the hypothesis that common-law regimes such as England were more supportive of economic growth than civil-law jurisdictions such as Scotland: indeed, levels of shareholder protection were slightly stronger in the civil-law zone. Other factors, such as local political institutions, played a bigger role in shaping organisational forms and business practice.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2012.741971

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