Corporate Governance and the Development of Manufacturing Enterprises in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts

摘要: This paper analyzes the use of corporate form among nineteenth-century manufacturing firms in Massachusetts, from newly collected data 1875. An analysis incorporation rates across industries reveals that corporations were formed at higher which firm size was larger. But conditional on size, production conducted factories, rather than artisanal shops, saw more frequent form. On average, ownership quite concentrated, with directors holding 45 percent shares. However, whose shares quoted Boston Stock Exchange 'widely held' comparable to modern American public companies. The methods utilized different also influenced firms' structures. In many early steam power combined unskilled labor, and managers likely performed a complex supervisory role critical success firm. Consistent notion monitoring management especially important such firms, made greater labor had concentrated ownership, levels managerial smaller boards directors.Institutional subscribers NBER working series, residents developing countries may download this without additional charge www.nber.org.