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Who financed the expansion of the equity market? Shareholder clienteles in Victorian Britain

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  • Graeme G. Acheson
  • Gareth Campbell
  • John D. Turner

Abstract

Who financed the great expansion of the Victorian equity market, and what attracted them to invest? Using data on 453 firm-years and over 172,000 shareholders, we find that the largest providers of capital were rentiers, men with no formal occupation who relied on investment income. We also see a substantial growth in women investors as time progressed. In terms of clientele effects, we find that rentiers invested in large firms, whilst businessmen were the venture capitalists of young, regional enterprises. Women and the middle classes preferred safe investments, whilst financiers and institutional investors were speculators in foreign companies. Our results may help to explain the growth of new types of assets catering for particular clienteles, and the development of managerial policies on dividends and share issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Graeme G. Acheson & Gareth Campbell & John D. Turner, 2017. "Who financed the expansion of the equity market? Shareholder clienteles in Victorian Britain," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 607-637, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:59:y:2017:i:4:p:607-637
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2016.1250744
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    Cited by:

    1. Ian Webster, 2022. "Making the municipal capital market in nineteenth‐century England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 56-79, February.
    2. Turner, John D., 2024. "Three centuries of corporate governance in the UK," QUCEH Working Paper Series 24-01, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    3. Janette Rutterford & Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos & Carry van Lieshout, 2023. "Individual investors and social ownership structures in the UK before the 1930s: Joint holdings and trustee investment," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 661-692, May.
    4. Acheson, Graeme G. & Coyle, Christopher & Jordan, David P. & Turner, John D., 2018. "Share trading activity and the rise of the rentier in the UK before 1920," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2018-04, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    5. Graeme G. Acheson & Gareth Campbell & Áine Gallagher & John D. Turner, 2021. "Independent women: investing in British railways, 1870–1922," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 471-495, May.
    6. Engelbert Stockhammer & Erik Bengtsson, 2020. "Financial effects in historic consumption and investment functions," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 304-326, May.
    7. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Gallagher, Áine & Turner, John D., 2018. "Independent women: Shareholders in the age of the suffragettes," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2018-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    8. Shima Amini & Steven Toms, 2021. "Elite directors, London finance, and British overseas expansion: Victorian railway networks, 1860–1900," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 496-521, May.
    9. Quinn, William & Turner, John D., 2021. "Riding the bubble or taken for a ride? Investors in the British bicycle mania," QUCEH Working Paper Series 21-07, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    10. Quinn, William & Turner, John D., 2021. "Riding the Bubble or Taken for a Ride? Investors in the British Bicycle Mania," QBS Working Paper Series 2021/08, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.

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