The development of a domestic stock market in St. Petersburg in late Imperial Russia.

摘要

The thesis is a study of the Russian domestic stock market in late Imperial Russia, as represented by its principal exchange in St. Petersburg. The specific focus is on the trading of shares of domestic joint-stock companies. One aspect of the research is the analysis of the role played by the stock market in the late imperial Russian economy. The relevance of the market to the overall joint-stock company universe, and as a mechanism of capital formation to private industry in general, is a major theme. Another is to study the stock market from the perspective of the investor in Russian shares, by analyzing price movements in the overall market and in individual sectors. As a broader theme, the study attempts to make a contribution to the historiographical question of whether Russia was undergoing a significant economic transformation by 1914, from the limited perspective of the stock market.; The St. Petersburg exchange itself, and specifically what became its securities department (Fondovyi otdel), is an essential element of this study. The interplay in stock market affairs between government and private business initiative are examined in this context. The legal and regulatory bases of the stock market are also analyzed in light of actual market practices. Market sentiment and public attitudes as reflected in period sources are further presented. The overall emphasis, however, is on how the stock market actually operated---the types of shares traded, the prices paid for these shares, and the reasons investors chose to buy, hold, or sell them based on the information available at the time.; Following a section on the pre-history of the securities market, a decade by decade approach is adopted, emphasizing the period 1860--1914. Overall and sector indexes, seventy-nine graphs presenting data on individual securities, and other quantitative measurements are utilized to graphically portray the development of the stock market. Comparative data on other domestic and international exchanges and the Russian money and fixed-income markets are also presented to put the role of the stock market in broader perspective. Appendices provide additional background information on share types, trading mechanisms, methodology, and terminology.