Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - "Different and better?" Scottish joint-stock companies and the law, c. 1720-1845
AU - Freeman, Mark
AU - Pearson, Robin
AU - Taylor, James
PY - 2007/2
Y1 - 2007/2
N2 - This paper examines the legal status of joint-stock companies in Scotland in the period between the `Bubble Act' of 1720 and the reforms of company law in Britain in the mid-1840s. Historians have generally contended that Scots company law was `different and better' than English law. In this paper, however, we question the assumption that the legal personality of the unincorporated company in Scotland gave it a significant advantage vis-à-vis its English counterparts. Using the examples of the National and Commercial Banks of Scotland, and the Shotts Iron Company, we argue that, while unincorporated companies were never in danger of being ruled illegal in Scotland, their status presented them with a number of difficulties in their day-to-day activities. This legal framework reflected the reluctance both north and south of the border to promote joint-stock enterprise at the expense of the private partnership long into the nineteenth century.
AB - This paper examines the legal status of joint-stock companies in Scotland in the period between the `Bubble Act' of 1720 and the reforms of company law in Britain in the mid-1840s. Historians have generally contended that Scots company law was `different and better' than English law. In this paper, however, we question the assumption that the legal personality of the unincorporated company in Scotland gave it a significant advantage vis-à-vis its English counterparts. Using the examples of the National and Commercial Banks of Scotland, and the Shotts Iron Company, we argue that, while unincorporated companies were never in danger of being ruled illegal in Scotland, their status presented them with a number of difficulties in their day-to-day activities. This legal framework reflected the reluctance both north and south of the border to promote joint-stock enterprise at the expense of the private partnership long into the nineteenth century.
U2 - 10.1093/ehr/cel373
DO - 10.1093/ehr/cel373
M3 - Journal article
VL - 122
SP - 61
EP - 81
JO - English Historical Review
JF - English Historical Review
SN - 1477-4534
IS - 495
ER -