This project will examine the evolution of corporate financing in Britain during the early twentieth century, a period in which the UK experienced a relative decline in economic and financial importance. To contribute to this topic, I will examine the finances of both public and private commercial industrial firms. These firms could have contributed to the enormous productivity jumps seen elsewhere in the world. I will show how these firms financed their activities, why they chose these forms of financing, and how the market evaluated these firms’ debt. This project will contribute to the literature on Britain’s economic decline, the development of corporate finance, and the historical foundations of investor behaviour in bond markets.
