Investment and empire in the later eighteenth century: East India stockholding, 1756-1791

Bowen, H. V.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1989.tb00493.x

Cited by 12 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…To gauge the size of the market, we compare the aggregate value of the securities in our data with the GDP of the province of Holland, the richest and most populous region of the Netherlands (including cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam), for which comprehensive GDP estimates are available (Van Zanden and Van Leeuwen, 2012). Using information from Bowen (1989) and Wright (1997), we estimate the fraction of English securities held by Dutch investors.…”

Section: Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four centuries of return predictability

Golez

Koudijs

2018

Journal of Financial Economics

140

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for comments and suggestions. We thank Gary Shea for generously sharing his data about 18th century British companies and John Turner for his advice on how to use British stock price information from the 19th century. George Jiang, Manisha Goswami and Cathy Quiambao provided valuable research assistance. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

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Section: Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four centuries of return predictability

Golez

Koudijs

2018

Journal of Financial Economics

140

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“…The financing of early public companies follows the same pattern. Bowen (1989) documents that most stockholders of the East India Company between 1756 and 1791 were "clergymen, bankers, military and naval personnel, officials, brokers, merchants large and small, and retailers," whereas "beyond doubt there was no large-scale investment in the [East India] Company by the landed interest or aristocracy" (p. 195). The preindustrial elite thus played a surprisingly minor role in financing government borrowing and private enterprise well before the Industrial Revolution, despite being far wealthier than the middle class.…”

Section: The Historical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational Choice and the Spirit of Capitalism

2007

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The British Industrial Revolution triggered a reversal in the social order whereby the landed elite was replaced by industrial capitalists rising from the middle classes as the economically dominant group. Many observers have linked this transformation to the contrast in values between a hard-working and thrifty middle class and an upper class imbued with disdain for work. We propose an economic theory of preference formation in which both the divergence of attitudes across social classes and the ensuing reversal of economic fortunes are equilibrium outcomes. In our theory, parents shape their children's preferences in response to economic incentives. If financial markets are imperfect, this results in the stratification of society along occupational lines. Middle-class families in occupations that require effort, skill, and experience develop patience and work ethic, whereas upper-class families relying on rental income cultivate a refined taste for leisure. These class-specific attitudes, which are rooted in the nature of pre-industrial professions, become key determinants of success once industrialization transforms the economic landscape.

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“…Each act of bribe was traced back to the Governor of the Company, Sir Thomas Cook, sonin-law of Josiah Child. This amply demonstrates that the Company followed the policy of bribing to obtain the patronage of the British Crown (Bowen, 2006;Robins, 2006).…”

Section: The East India Company (Eic)mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The transformation led to the entry of the Company into the business of Empire also (Bowen, 2006). This new role of the EIC has been variously described by the scholars.…”

Section: Responses Of State and British Civil Society To The Issues Rmentioning

confidence: 95%

The East India Company—A Case Study in Corporate Governance^*

Seth

2012

Global Business Review

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The East India Company was the first joint-stock company of the world. Being a joint-stock company, it experienced the consequences of separation between ownership (stockholders) and control (management). The separation between ownership and control leads to the principal-agent problem, which provides possibilities for opportunistic behaviour on the part of agents (management). The study of the relationship between owners and managers is now the subject matter of a specialized field of knowledge, called corporate governance. In the present paper an attempt has been made to study the East India Company purely as a corporation, to understand the nature of problems of corporate governance that it experienced.

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Investment and empire in the later eighteenth century: East India stockholding, 1756-1791

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

Four centuries of return predictability

Four centuries of return predictability

Occupational Choice and the Spirit of Capitalism

The East India Company—A Case Study in Corporate Governance^*

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Investment and empire in the later eighteenth century: East India stockholding, 1756-1791

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

Four centuries of return predictability

Four centuries of return predictability

Occupational Choice and the Spirit of Capitalism

The East India Company—A Case Study in Corporate Governance*

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The East India Company—A Case Study in Corporate Governance^*