Was Marshall Right? Managerial Failure and Corporate Ownership in Edwardian Britain

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Queens University Belfast; Queens University Belfast
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S002205072200047X
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 131-165
• 关键词: upper echelons; british business; stock-exchange; public-schools; performance; ECONOMY; governance; revolution; decline; MARKET

摘要

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.