Mercantilist Origins of the Corporation
Volume: Volume 11, No. 2
Issue: Autumn 1980
Pages: pp. 715-720
Authors: Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. and Robert D. Tollison
Title: Mercantilist Origins of the Corporation
Abstract: In this paper we present a new hypothesis about why the corporation was invented. The traditional argument stresses the importance of limited liability in the emergence of the corporate form. In contrast we stress the advantages that transferable shares hold for cartel owner-management in the early companies.
JEL Classification
Economic History Europe General (0440)
Capitalist Economic Systems: Market Economies (0510)