The Performance of European Business in the Twentieth Century

This book originated from the idea that performance is what really matters in business and thus in business history. Yet, surprisingly, the analysis of performances has been neglected by economic and business historians. This book is a first attempt to fill this gap and in doing so provides a totally new approach to European business history. Rather than bringing together national studies, it is based on a single database, measuring performance in eight European countries according to identical criteria. The study spans the entire twentieth century, with particular attention to five benchmark moments: the height of the first globalisation on the eve of the First World War; the late 1920s boom preceding the Great Depression; the European reconstruction of the mid-1950s; the end of 'Golden Age' in the early 1970s; and the height of the second globalisation at the turn of the twenty-first century. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,225 companies, belonging to the three major European economies, Britain, France and Germany; two large south European latecomers, Italy and Spain; two smaller north western countries, Belgium and Sweden, and one small Nordic country, Finland. Performance has been measured using two ratios of profitability: return on equity (ROE) and holding return (HR), thus providing a complementary measure of profitability, the former as seen from the firm's perspective, the latter form the investor's perspective. The book's findings, at times surprising, at once confirm and infirm widely held assumptions regarding business performance - regarding strategy and structure, ownership and control, old and new industries, emerging and advanced economies. Contributors to this volume - Franco Amatori is Professor of Economic History at Bocconi University Anna M. Aubanell-Jubany is Professor of Economic History at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Veronica Binda is a Lecturer in Economic History at Bocconi University Carlo Brambilla is lecturer of Economic History at the University of Insubria Frans Buelens is Senior Researcher at the University of Antwerp Albert Carreras is Professor of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra Youssef Cassis is Professor of Economic History at the European University Institute Andrea Colli is Professor at Bocconi University Ludo Cuyvers is Emeritus Professor of the University of Antwerp Michele D'Alessandro teaches at Bocconi University and Ca' Foscari University of Venice Diane Dammers works at the Statistical Office of Rhineland-Palatinate in Bad Ems, Germany Marc Deloof is a Professor of Finance at the University of Antwerp Hendrik K. Fischer studied Economics, Political Sciences, Medieval and Modern History and Journalism in Cologne Terry Gourvish is a Fellow in the Economic History Department, London School of Economics & Political Science Riitta Hjerppe is Emerita Professor of economic history at the University of Helsinki Mats Larsson is Professor at University of Uppsala Toni Pierenkemper has taught at the universities of Munster, Saarbrucken, Frankfurt and Koln Harm G. Schroter is Professor of Economic History at the Institute of AHKR, University of Bergen Helma De Smedt is an emerita Professor at the University of Antwerp Xavier Tafunell is Professor of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra