A History of Corporate Finance
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Revised ed., 1/12/2008
EAN 9780521655361, ISBN10: 0521655366
Paperback, 364 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This study focuses on the role of institutions and organisations in the historical development of corporate finance. The book provides an overview of the evolution of practice in this field from the Italian merchant banks of the Renaissance through the formation of conglomerates and leveraged-buy-out partnerships in contemporary Wall Street. It also puts forth a compelling argument for the closer integration of historical and quantitative research methodologies in advancing finance theory. Additionally, the epilogue defines an original algorithm that explains the relationship between the short-term, firm-specific factors and longer-term environmental elements that have shaped the historical development of finance.
Preface
1. History and the modern theory of finance
2. Medieval and Renaissance origins
3. Corporate finance in an age of global exploration
trading companies and oceanic discovery, 1450–1720
4. The emergence of public markets for investment securities, 1688–1815
5. Finance in an age of canals and railroads, 1775–1900
6. Common stock finance and the rise of managerial capitalism, 1900–1940
7. The financing of center firms, 1940–1973
8. Conglomerates and leveraged buy-out partnerships
Appendix one
Finance and informational asymmetries in the ancient world
Appendix two
International patterns of corporate governance
Epilogue.