Technological change and the governance of joint-stock enterprise in the early nineteenth century: The case of coastal shipping

Mark Freeman, Robin Pearson and James Taylor

Business History, 2007, vol. 49, issue 5, 573-594

Abstract: Recent studies of the innovation process have viewed it as the outcome of organizational dynamics rather than as the product of technological developments exogenous to the governance of firms. We apply this approach to our examination of British coastal shipping companies during the early nineteenth century as they grappled with the problem of making a successful transition from sail to steam technology. Within the industry there were contrasting responses to this transition, but also common elements in the decision-making process. Before the 1840s, there remained a widespread assumption of shareholder involvement in this sector as in others. The evidence suggests that shipping company directors were generally able to determine resource-allocation decisions, but not without first taking into account governance relations.

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Shipping; Nineteenth Century; Technology; Shareholders; Steamships; Joint-Stock Companies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00076790701427630 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:bushst:v:49:y:2007:i:5:p:573-594

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FBSH20

DOI: 10.1080/00076790701427630

Access Statistics for this article

Business History is currently edited by Professor John Wilson and Professor Steven Toms

More articles in Business History from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().