Article

The Incidence and Persistence of Partnerships in a British Industrial City: Glasgow, 1861-1881.

Details

Citation

Acheson G, McLaughlin E, Newton G & Perriton L (2024) The Incidence and Persistence of Partnerships in a British Industrial City: Glasgow, 1861-1881.. Economic History Review, pp. 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13356

Abstract
This paper examines the prevalence of business partnerships in a late nineteenth century British city, using individual level data from Post Office directories and censuses. Focusing on Glasgow, we present a detailed picture of partnership number and type, demographic characteristics of the entrepreneurs who ran them, and how these businesses persisted over time. We show that partnerships were a key business grouping in the city, demonstrate that the partnership form was advantageous in manufacturing, and that the majority of partnerships were formed between individuals without family ties. Furthermore, we offer new insight into business longevity, showing that partnership business survival broadly matched corporate survival rates in this period, with persistence data also suggesting that kinship partnerships were better able to deal with the perceived hold-up problems associated with the partnership form.

Keywords
Britian;nineteenth century; partnerships

Journal
Economic History Review

StatusIn Press
FundersThe Leverhulme Trust
Publication date online17/06/2024
Date accepted by journal11/04/2024
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/36061
ISSN0013-0117
eISSN1468-0289
ISSN of series1468-0289

People (1)

Professor Linda Perriton

Professor Linda Perriton

Professor, Management, Work and Organisation