the effects of the First World War on the profitability of British industry.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
1995
Ph.D.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)
1995
Militarism and war have had important, but poorly-understood effectson economic development. The intention of this thesis is to add toour knowledge of these processes by analysing the effects of theFirst World War on the profitabiity of British industry.War is an act of state policy and the thesis considers the role ofthe state and its relationship with the economy and its majorinterest groups in general terms before examining the changes in thisrelationship that were brought about by the First World War. Thestate can act by means of compulsion or through institutionalisedsocial negotiation; the First World War is of particular interestbecause, for the first time, the latter was used extensively as ameans of government and because the state's policies involved a newpoliticization of the profit concept.War-time concerns over 'profiteering' appear to conflict with theavailable economic data, which suggest that this was not aparticularly rewarding period for business, but the data that isavailable on company profitability is too flawed, chiefly by theaccounting practices of the time, properly to resolve theuncertainties involved.The main part of the thesis provides an analysis of data derived fromthe archives of a set of thirty companies, which enable internallycalculated and externally published pre- and post-tax profits to becompared. These results provide important new evidence on industrialprofitability across the trans-war period, on the nature of theaccounting practices of the time, and on the effects of the state'staxation policies, which had been bargained for labour restraint, onthe industrial sector.
Economics & economic theory
Arnold, Anthony John.
London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)