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Contested Continuity: Competing Explanations of the Evolution of the Corporate Form

Abstract: The history of the electric utility industry provides the occasion for testing competing explanations of the emergence and persistence of the corporate form. This industry, characterized by capital intensity, intense competition, and attractive investment opportunities — along with rapid technological change as well as legal and regulatory changes — provides lessons for newer industries with network externalities. Drawing on the work of institutional economics and business history, I examine the evolution of the electric power industry in the US to test competing explanations of choices of finance and technology.