著者

日高 千景

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.24, no.2, pp.68-88, 1989-07-30 (Released:2009-11-06)

著者

日高 千景

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.21, no.3, pp.27-52, 1986-10-30 (Released:2009-11-06)

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Oldham, the world's largest center of cotton spinning, is also known as the leading center of the early joint-stock company in Britain. From the 1870s to the 1900s, a large number of spinning companies, known as “the Oldham limiteds, ” sprang up in this town, bringing about an unprecedented expansion of the town's spindleage. This paper attempts to reappraise these new companies in the context of the subsequent decline of the British cotton industry in this century.The analysis is focused on the financial problem. Probably, one of the most important characters of the limiteds was in their financial system. The system, as a matter of fact, opened a new source of finance and made possible the emergence of a huge additional spinning capacity, but at the same time it influenced the corporate strategy of the limiteds in such a way as to make them less competitive.The question of why did the decline of the British industry occur is the author's major concern. And this paper is a first step toward clarifying the nature of a mature economy and the factors that affected the British industry's adaptability to changes in the economic environment.