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Bloody foreigners! Overseas equity on the London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929

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  • Richard S. Grossman

Abstract

type="main"> This article presents data on quantity, capital gains, dividend yields, and total returns of domestic and overseas equities listed on the London Stock Exchange during 1869–1929. Indices are presented for Africa, Asia, Australia (including New Zealand), Europe, Latin America, and North America (as well as for the UK), and for the finance, transportation, raw materials, and utilities sectors in each region. Returns and volatility were typically highest in emerging regions and the raw materials sector. Dividend yields were similar across regions and differences in total returns were due largely to disparities in capital gains. Contingent liability was most extensively employed where leverage was high and the physical assets were either meagre or inaccessible to creditors.

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  • Richard S. Grossman, 2015. "Bloody foreigners! Overseas equity on the London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(2), pages 471-521, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:68:y:2015:i:2:p:471-521
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ehr.12075
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    3. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D., 2016. "Common law and the origin of shareholder protection," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2016-04, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    4. Madsen, Jakob B., 2019. "Wealth and inequality over eight centuries of British capitalism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 246-260.
    5. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D., 2015. "Who financed the expansion of the equity market? Shareholder clienteles in Victorian Britain," QUCEH Working Paper Series 15-07, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    6. Leslie Hannah, 2018. "The London Stock Exchange, 1869–1929: new statistics for old?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(4), pages 1349-1356, November.
    7. Hannah, Leslie, 2017. "The London Stock Exchange 1869-1929: new bloody statistics for old?," Economic History Working Papers 82404, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    8. Grossman, Richard, 2017. "Stocks for the Long Run: New Monthly Indices of British Equities, 1869-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 12121, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Coyle, Christopher & Musacchio, Aldo & Turner, John D., 2019. "Law and Finance in Britain c.1900," QBS Working Paper Series 2019/11, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    10. Richard S.Grossman, 2017. "Beresford’s Revenge: British equity holdings in Latin America, 1869-1929," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2017-003, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    11. Grossman, Richard, 2017. "Beresford’s Revenge: British equity holdings in Latin America, 1869-1929," CEPR Discussion Papers 12042, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Jansson, Walter, 2018. "Stock markets, banks and economic growth in the UK, 1850–1913," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 263-296, December.
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    15. Klas Rönnbäck & Oskar Broberg & Stefania Galli, 2022. "A colonial cash cow: the return on investments in British Malaya, 1889–1969," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(1), pages 149-173, January.
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    17. 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.

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