Integrating politics, economics, and law, Freedman traces the origin, development, and the role of joint-stock companies in France from the prerevolutionary Old Regime to the reorganization of the corporation under the legislation of 1867. He focuses on two types of companies, the <3>societe anonyme<1> and the <3>societe en commandite par actions<1>, to show that French corporate law was as liberal as any in Europe and should be regarded as a positive contributor to French economic growth.

Originally published 1979.

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