Deriving the Railway Mania
Author: Gareth Campbell
Published in Financial History Review (2013) vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1-27
Abstract: This article argues that the promotion boom which occurred in the railway industry during the mid 1840s was amplified by the issue of derivative-like assets, which let investors take highly leveraged positions in the shares of new railway companies. The partially paid shares which the new railway companies issued allowed investors to obtain exposure to an asset by paying only a small initial deposit. The consequence of this arrangement was that investor returns were substantially amplified, and many
schemes could be financed simultaneously. However, when investors were required to make further payments it put a negative downward pressure on prices.
Download Journal Article:
http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0968565012000285
Download Working Paper:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2545239
Read Online:
Published in Financial History Review (2013) vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1-27
Abstract: This article argues that the promotion boom which occurred in the railway industry during the mid 1840s was amplified by the issue of derivative-like assets, which let investors take highly leveraged positions in the shares of new railway companies. The partially paid shares which the new railway companies issued allowed investors to obtain exposure to an asset by paying only a small initial deposit. The consequence of this arrangement was that investor returns were substantially amplified, and many
schemes could be financed simultaneously. However, when investors were required to make further payments it put a negative downward pressure on prices.
Download Journal Article:
http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0968565012000285
Download Working Paper:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2545239
Read Online:
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