Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/276258 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
QUCEH Working Paper Series No. 23-08
Publisher: 
Queen's University Centre for Economic History (QUCEH), Belfast
Abstract: 
This article uses a prosopographical methodology and a new dataset of 1,558 CEOs from Britain's largest public companies between 1900 and 2009 to analyse how the role, social background, and career pathways of corporate leaders changed. We have four main findings: First, the designation of CEO only prevailed in the 1990s. Second, the proportion of socially elite CEOs was highest before 1940, but they were not dominant. Third, most CEOs did not have a degree before the 1980s, or professional qualification until the 1990s. Fourth, liberal market reforms in the 1980s increased the likelihood of dismissal by a factor of three.
Subjects: 
corporate leaders
corporate careers
Britain
20th century
JEL: 
G30
M12
N83
N84
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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