Scotland

Description

The Scotland Dataset.

Standard Network Analysis
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Background

This dataset contains the corporate interlocks in Scotland in the beginning of the twentieth century (1904-5). In the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution brought Scotland railways and industrialization, especially heavy industry and textile industry. The amount of capital needed for these large scale undertakings exceeded the means of private families, so joint stock companies were established, which could raise the required capital. Joint stock companies are owned by the shareholders, who are represented by a board of directors. This opens up the possibility of interlocking directorates. By the end of the nineteenth century, joint stock companies had become the predominant form of business enterprise at the expense of private family businesses. Families, however, still exercised control through ownership and directorships.

The data are taken from the book The Anatomy of Scottish Capital by John Scott and Michael Hughes. It lists the (136) multiple directors of the 108 largest joint stock companies in Scotland in 1904-5: 64 non-financial firms, 8 banks, 14 insurance companies, and 22 investment and property companies (Scotland.net). In this dataset, which was compiled from the Appendix of Scott & Hughes' book, note that two multiple directors (W.S. Fraser and C.D. Menzies) are affiliated with just one board so they are not multiple directors in the strict sense.

The companies are classified according to industry type: 1 - oil & mining, 2 - railway, 3 - engineering & steel, 4 - electricity & chemicals, 5 - domestic products, 6 - banks, 7 - insurance, and 8 - investment. In addition, there is a vector specifying the total capital or deposits of the firms in 1,000 pound sterling.

References

History

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