Active Controllers or Wealthy Rentiers? Large Shareholders in Victorian Public Companies
研究了维多利亚时代公众公司的大股东是否积极参与公司控制，发现多数大股东投票权有限且非董事，更应被视为富有的绅士资本家而非企业家。
This article addresses the issue of whether large shareholders in Victorian public companies were active in the control of companies or were simply wealthy rentiers. Using ownership records for 890 firm-years, we examine the control rights, socio-occupational background, and wealth of large shareholders. We find that many large shareholders had limited voting rights and neither they nor family members were directors. This implies that the majority of public companies in the second half of the nineteenth century cannot be characterized as family companies and that large shareholders are better viewed as wealthy gentlemen capitalists rather than entrepreneurs.