Happy hour followed by hangover: financing the UK brewery industry, 1880–1913

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may AbstractIn the last 15 years of the nineteenth century c.300 British brewers incorporated and floated securities on the stock market. Subsequently, in the 1900s, the industry suffered a long-lived hangover. In this paper, we establish the stylised facts of this transformation and estimate the gains enjoyed by brewery investors during the boom as well as the losses suffered by investors during the bust of the 1900s. However, not all brewery equity shares suffered alike. We find that post-1900 performance correlates positively with capital-market discipline and good corporate governance and negatively with family control, but does not correlate with indebtedness.

Capital Market Development Over the Long Run: The Portfolios of UK Life Assurers Over Two Centuries

“…from 6.10 per cent of total assets in 1893 to 11.51 per cent of total assets in 1901. 6 This coincided with a collapse in yields on mortgages and bonds (Treble, 1980), but also a substantial stock-market promotion boom (Acheson, Coyle andTurner, 2016, Cheffins, 2008, p. 176;Cottrell, 1980, pp. 168-176, Quinn, 2019.…”

The influence of institutional factors on corporate narratives: A thematic content analysis of Guinness

“…In 1900, there were 308 incorporated breweries with securities traded on a stock market. These had a total paid-up capital of over £165 million (Acheson et al, 2016). Coming closer to our analysis period (1948–1996, see later), the number of breweries declined after the Second World War, with Gourvish and Wilson (1994) describing the period from 1955 to 1980 as ‘merger mania’ (p. 447).…”

Internal accounting practices at Whitbread & Company, c. 1890–1925

“…He concludes that cost and management accounting systems were relatively primitive and did little to inform management about the real cost of malting. Acheson et al (2016) similarly draw on accounting records from breweries to explore their financing. Again, this indicates that reasonable financial records were maintained, but no detail of accounting or accounting records is given.…”