Abstract

This article provides a long-term demographic analysis of the principal members of the population of companies quoted on the UK stock exchanges in 1948. Motivated by theories of natural selection and of corporate governance, it traces the survival records of the 1948 population over the biblical ‘threescore years and ten’ to 2018. Of the population of 1513 companies in 1948, only 19 survived for the full seventy years. The survival rate, as captured by the half-life of companies in the population, is remarkably stable over the period. As well as charting death rates over time, the study explores the causes of death – takeover, failure, etc. Also it analyses the relationship between survival and the characteristics of the firm and its environment.

摘要

本文对 1948 年在英国证券交易所上市的公司的主要成员进行了长期人口统计分析。受自然选择和公司治理理论的启发，它追溯了 1948 年人口在圣经中的生存记录。到 2018 年是“三分十年”。 1948 年的 1513 家公司中，只有 19 家存活了整整七十年。存活率，如公司在人口中的半衰期，在此期间非常稳定。除了绘制死亡率随时间变化的图表外，该研究还探讨了死亡的原因——收购、失败等。它还分析了生存与公司特征及其环境之间的关系。