Shareholder voting rights in early American corporations
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8420120 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eric Hilt (Wellesley College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 620-635 |
| Publication date | 2013-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Business History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-6791 • E-ISSN: 1743-7938 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00076791.2012.741975 |
| OpenAlex | W2149958665 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 16 |
In early American corporations, the power of large shareholders was frequently limited by voting rules that partially disenfranchised them. In particular, stock held in an individual's name was granted a number of votes per share that decreased with the number of shares held. Using data from the corporations created in New York up to 1825, this paper analyses the use of these ‘graduated’ voting rights. Consistent with the view that they were intended to help small investors protect themselves against the predations of controlling shareholders, the data indicate that graduated voting rights were imposed in industries that attracted small investments from ordinary households. The results highlight the importance of concerns over the controlling influence of large shareholders in early corporate governance
Business · Corporate governance · Economics · Law and economics · Market economy · Political science · Politics · Shareholder · Voting · Accounting · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Finance · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law
Violence and Social Orders
From Citizens to Plutocrats
Law and Finance
Democratic Dividends
The Limited Partnership in New York, 1822–1858
When did Ownership Separate from Control? Corporate Governance in the Early Nineteenth Century
Paying back to borrow more
Stock Ownership in the Early New England Textile Industry
Founding choices
Economy, Community, and Law
Banks and Politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,3 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2019 (4) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |