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Measuring Business Performance in the UK, 1900-1986

Principal Investigator: Philip Fliers
Funder: Carnevali Small Research Grant, Economic History Society (awarded 2021)
Picture
​Project Description: 
Research on pre-1986 evolution and performance of UK businesses is limited by the availability of historical accounting information. This lack of data has held back our understanding of the UK economy during the twentieth century. If we want to understand the future of UK businesses, we must look to a period prior to the availability of modern databases. This project aims to collect and digitise historical accounting data of the Top 100 listed companies in the UK between 1900 and 1986.  The objective of this research is not only to transcribe all the accounting information into a database, but also to standardize accounting practices during the 20th Century. These accounting practices differed between firms within one single year and across time. By creating this framework to standardize historical accounting practices, we will be able to link our data to contemporary data sources such as Datastream and make comparisons over time. This allows us to trace the performance of UK businesses from the start of the twentieth century till the present day.


Project Objectives:
  1. Construct a database containing all accounting information of the Top 100 UK exchange listed companies between 1900 and 1986
  2. Standardise all accounting formats used during the 20th century
  3. Link the database to contemporary sources of accounting information
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  • About
    • History
    • Prizes and Awards
    • QUCEH Bookshop
    • Queen's Management School
    • Contact Us
  • Members
    • Research Associates
    • Research Students
    • Research Affiliates
    • Advisory Board
  • Study
    • MSc Economics
    • PhD Economic History
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Placement History
  • Projects
    • All-Ireland Centre of Excellence
    • Business Performance
    • Productivity Forum
    • Corporate Titans
    • EURHISFIRM
    • Sterling Area Revisited
    • Irish Famine
    • C19th Irish prisoners
    • An Economist's Guide
  • Working Papers
    • Working Papers: 2022
    • Working Papers: 2021
    • Working Papers: 2020
    • Working Papers: 2019
    • Working Papers: 2018
    • Working Papers: 2017
    • Working Papers: 2016
    • Working Papers: 2015
    • Working Papers: 2014
  • Seminars
    • Seminars: 2021-2022
    • Seminars: 2020-2021
    • Seminars: 2019-2020
    • Seminars: 2018-2019
    • Seminars: 2017-2018
    • Seminars: 2016-2017
    • Seminars: 2015-2016
    • Seminars: 2014-2015
    • Seminars: 2013-2014
  • Workshops
    • Health Crises 2022
    • Bubblemania 2019
    • Boston 2018
    • FRESH 2017
    • Colloquium 2017
    • EurHiStock 2016
    • Globalisation 2016
    • Colloquium 2016
    • Religion 2015
  • Impact
    • COVID-19
    • Podcasts
    • Long Run Institute
    • History Now
    • History Counts
  • FRESH
    • FRESH Meetings
    • Hosting Instructions
    • Gothenburg 2022
    • Lund 2021
    • Paris 2021
    • Zurich 2021
    • Cork 2019
    • Groningen 2018
    • London 2018