Freeman, Mark and Pearson, Robin and Taylor, James (2013) Law, politics and the governance of English and Scottish joint-stock companies, 1600-1850. Business History, 55 (4). pp. 636-652. ISSN 0007-6791
Full text not available from this repository.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.