A History of Corporate Finance

• Preface; 1. History and the modern theory of finance; 2. Medieval and Renaissance origins; 3. Corporate finance in an age of global exploration: trading companies and oceanic discovery, 1450–1720; 4. The emergence of public markets for investment securities, 1688–1815; 5. Finance in an age of canals and railroads, 1775–1900; 6. Common stock finance and the rise of managerial capitalism, 1900–1940; 7. The financing of center firms, 1940–1973; 8. Conglomerates and leveraged buy-out partnerships; Appendix one: Finance and informational asymmetries in the ancient world; Appendix two: International patterns of corporate governance; Epilogue.

'A History of Corporate Finance by Baskin and Miranti provides a panoramic account of the evolution of financial organizations and practices from ancient time through the present. It also compares these organizations and practices with the assumptions and conclusions of contemporary financial theories. It is must reading for both history buffs and for students, scholars, and practitioners of financial theory.' Harry Markowitz, 1990 Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics