Le Bris, DavidORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2426-8867, Goetzmann, William N. and Pouget, SébastienORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8764-2043 (2025) Convergent evolution towards the joint-stock company. Business History, vol. 68 (n°2). pp. 347-372.

Abstract

The origin of the modern joint-stock company is typically traced to the concomitant appearance of large-scale maritime trading companies in England and the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century. Highlighting medieval cases in southern Europe, we claim that the joint-stock company emerged earlier in history. These prior appearances support the theory of convergent evolution towards the joint-stock company. We document alternative and largely independent developmental paths that suggest the joint-stock company can emerge in a variety of legal, political and socioeconomic contexts. This evidence has implications for identifying the necessary background underlying the emergence of the joint-stock company, and for the debate regarding the link between business institutions and economic growth.