Effectbejag. Ontwikkelingen in financiële regimes en aandeelhoudersmacht

Samenvatting

Quest for Securities in Financial Regimes and Shareholder Power. The rapid expansion of financial markets during the last decades of the 20th century is considered here as a new stage in a long-term social process. Stock markets, it is argued, have developed as an integral part of the process of state formation. Financial markets first emerged during the 17th and 18th centuries for trading the bonds and shares issued by states and by trading companies closely linked to these states. When the states that pioneered the new financing techniques (the Dutch Republic and England) appeared to have gained significant advantages over their main political and military rivals (Spain and France), the new financial techniques were introduced in other states as well. As soon as the trade in these financial instruments reached a certain regularity, professional intermediaries emerged (brokers and jobbers), and their associations created the national stock exchanges that have appeared since the end of the 18th century. During the latter half of the 19th century, the development of stock markets accelerated. Changes in company law made it possible for private firms too to become limited-liability joint stock corporations, and trading of the stocks of private firms drove the further expansion of stock markets. The most recent phase of expansion, stimulated by technological innovation and a process of competitive deregulation, is characterized mainly by the rise of institutional investors, which have become the dominant force both in the financial markets and in the development of large firms. Their emergence has altered the balance of power among the various groups within firms (workers, employees, and management) as well as between firms; and the dynamics of the stock market during the past two decades can be explained by the behavior of institutional investors. 116 References. Adapted from the source document.