Finance of Manufacturing Industry in 19th Century

English industrialists in the period 1850-1885 had to cope with rapid changes in technology as well as national and international economic fluctuations, especially the boom of the early 1870s and the depression of 1874-9. This is a study of the ways in which cyclical expansion, survival during a slump and the adoption of new techniques were financed.Lucy Newton begins by appraising the scale of manufacturing and the way it changed between 1850 and 1885. She goes on to examine the supply side, both limited liability as a method of financing and the role of provincial banks. She reveals a continuing interrelated pattern of very localised manufacturing, banks and systems of finance in England, and she shows that the financial system mirrored the productive structure of the English provinces. This regional financial network was able to provide manufacturing with adequate funds in normal circumstances, but came under strain when challenged by the needs of very large manufacturers or during the slump of 1874-9.Throughout the book the author compares the English experience with that of other European countries, resulting in an unusually wide-ranging analysis of finance and organisation of manufacturing industry in a period of transition from workshop to factory.Newton is the author of 'Finance of Manufacturing Industry in 19th Century' with ISBN 9781859283936 and ISBN 1859283934.