Living with the U.S. Financial System

The Experiences of General Electric and Westinghouse Electric in the Last Century

Bibliographic Data

ID9625447
AuthorsMary O’sullivan (0000-0002-7429-836X, Sullivan University, corresponding author), Mary A O'Sullivan
Year2006
Volume80
Issue4
Pages621-655
Publication date2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Business History Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-6805 • E-ISSN: 2044-768X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/25097264
OpenAlexW2151039493
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited18

Scholars have recommended taking a closer look at firms that raise funds from the financial system as a way of understanding the relation between finance and growth. This article explores the role of the U.S. financial system in providing funds to two prominent American firms, General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, over the course of the last century. The financial system's support was important for both companies, but there were important differences, as well as changes over time, in their patterns of financial dependence and autonomy. Two factors—investments in working capital and dividend policies—are important for explaining the financing patterns of both firms, suggesting clear hypotheses about the determinants of demand for corporate finance that can be tested in further financial histories. The findings also highlight the importance of looking at working, as well as fixed, capital in studies of enterprises' relations with the financial system, and of examining the money that flows out of companies as well as the funds that flow into them

Autonomy · Business · Capital (architecture · Dividend · Economics · Financial system · Political science · Capital Investment and Risk Analysis · Corporate Finance and Governance · Finance

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