Marc Deloof

Biographic Data

ID1115609
NAMEMarc Deloof
GIVEN NAMESMarc
FAMILY NAMEDeloof
SIGNATUREDELOOF M
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Antwerp
ORCID0000-0002-6314-5528
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS15
TOTAL CITATIONS22
AUTHOR COUNT15
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2008
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX2

  • Belgian financial elites and destructive entrepreneurship in King Leopold's Congo free state

    Open AccessMarc DeloofARTICLEThe Economic History Review2026References: 2

    This study investigates the role of financial elites in the Congo Free State (CFS). An analysis of director interlocks between firms operating in the CFS and Belgian banks listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (BSE) reveals that the Belgian financial establishment was a crucial contributor to large, capital‐intensive CFS ventures from the start, contradicting the idea that business in the CFS was driven by a few rogue financiers. Whilst the numbe…

  • Don’t mention the war

    Marc Deloof, Leentje Moortgat et al.ARTICLEBusiness History2026References: 42

    We examine the impact of war tensions on entrepreneurship in Belgium during the Second Industrial Revolution (1885-1913), focusing on how geopolitical uncertainty influenced firm creation and capital raised by new firms. Our analyses reveal significant declines in both as threats escalated. Utilising a text-based war threat measure and controlling for other sources of uncertainty, we document that rising risk aversion suppressed entrepreneurial a…

  • The long-run persistence in dividend policy

    Open AccessLeentje Moortgat, Jean Annaert et al.ARTICLECliometrica2024

  • Belgian Financial Elites and Destructive Entrepreneurship in King Leopold’s Congo Free State

    Open AccessMarc DeloofARTICLESSRN Electronic Journal2024Cited by: 1References: 10

  • Banking on innovation

    Open AccessGertjan Verdickt, Marc DeloofARTICLEExplorations in Economic History2024Cited by: 1References: 25

    Société Générale de Belgique was the world's first universal bank. It pioneered another innovation: investing in non-listed equity. We use hand-collected data to show that the bank earned significant positive risk-adjusted returns from 1850 to 1934. This offset its flat return on the listed equity portfolio and underperforming bond portfolio. Other Belgian universal banks followed this strategy. As such, we argue that this innovation laid the gro…

  • International entrepreneurship without investor protection

    Open AccessMarc Deloof, Ine PaelemanARTICLEThe Economic History Review2024Cited by: 1References: 60

    We investigate the financing and performance of international entrepreneurship in an environment that was characterized by severe information problems and very weak investor protection. Despite these problems, new ventures could raise large amounts of equity and debt on the Belgian capital market between 1890 and 1914. Many of these firms were international new ventures (INVs) with their main operations abroad, often far away from Belgium. We fin…

  • Bonds for the long run? The rate of return on corporate bonds in Belgium, 1838-1939

    Open AccessKevin Van Mencxel, Jean Annaert et al.ARTICLEThe Economic History Review2024References: 39

    We investigate corporate bond returns for the period 1838-1939 by compiling a unique new database of 201 000 monthly observations of bonds traded on the Brussels Stock Exchange. The value-weighted annualized total rate of return, net of coupon defaults and taxes, is 4.35 per cent in nominal terms and 2.81 per cent in real terms. Estimates of average returns show that corporate bonds outperformed equities during the entire nineteenth century. We f…

  • Going public

    Open AccessMarc Deloof, Anne De Jong et al.ARTICLECliometrica2023

    We investigate firms' initial stock and bond issues in public capital markets and explain fluctuations in these IPOs over time. We study Belgium from 1839 to 1935, which provides a setting with poor investor protection, no tax distortions, and changing regulations. We find that economic growth induces stock and bond IPOs and that the issuers time offerings such that they coincide with favorable market conditions. Even though in 1873, regulation w…

  • Marketing and Pricing Risk in Marine Insurance in Sixteenth-Century Antwerp

    Open AccessJeroen Puttevils, Marc DeloofARTICLEThe Journal of Economic History2017Cited by: 3References: 29

    Drawing on a set of insurance contracts brokered in Antwerp in 1562-1563, we demonstrate that by that time Antwerp hosted a sophisticated, large, and international market for marine insurance in which small and large traders could acquire and sell insurance, backed by the intermediation of a large broker, Juan Henriquez who functioned as an open-access institution. Using information from Henriquez's ledgers which was also available to underwriter…

  • The value of corporate boards during the Great Depression in Belgium

    Open AccessMarc Deloof, Veronique VermoesenARTICLEExplorations in Economic History2016Cited by: 2References: 61

  • Long-run stock returns

    Open AccessJean Annaert, Jan Annaert et al.ARTICLECliometrica2015

  • Local financial development and the trade credit policy of Italian SMEs

    Open AccessMarc Deloof, Maurizio La RoccaARTICLESmall Business Economics2015

  • Long-term debt maturity and financing constraints of SMEs during the Global Financial Crisis

    Open AccessVeronique Vermoesen, Marc Deloof et al.ARTICLESmall Business Economics2013

  • Do universal banks create value? Universal bank affiliation and company performance in Belgium, 1905–1909

    Open AccessWouter Van Overfelt, Jean Annaert et al.ARTICLEExplorations in Economic History2009Cited by: 14References: 31

  • The Financial Structure of Private Held Belgian Firms

    Open AccessDries Heyman, Marc Deloof et al.ARTICLESmall Business Economics2008