The history of the American experience tends to be viewed as exceptional relativ
The history of the American experience tends to be viewed as exceptional relative to Europe. The tradition has generally been to view the course of American development as unique and separate from the antecedent European history that America originates from. One consequence of this ideological tradition has been to view corporate power as an anomaly to an otherwise well-functioning system, in which unfettered market forces generally produce highly competitive, small firms that do not possess effective market power. The actual history is quite different.
From the very foundation of the American colonies big business has been the rule, not the exception. The Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that enjoyed an exclusive patent on very large swathes of land (see figure 1 below), established the first British colony at Jamestown in 1607. A patent is taken here to mean an exclusive grant by the sovereign with respect to a particular land tract, and establishes a fundamental claim to ownership and disposal of that land.
The managerial class vested with the power of the charter administered all aspects of colonial life. Virtually all of the land that makes up the area that is described as the original thirteen colonies was held in ownership by a small set of individuals vested with property rights derived from monarchical legal traditions, granted with an exclusive patent for private development.
Business Enterprise and Property Rights
The corporate firm and the legal structure of property rights coevolved in the course of US economic history. When we examine the going concern with an emphasis on its proprietary relationships with other aspects of the economy this codevelopment appears all the more transparent. That is, the firm is the site of a great many transactions in the economic system. Monetary transactions in which the firm makes a claim to resources generated in the economy involve rules governing the proprietary relationships between the transacting party and the resources in question. In order to secure exclusive and steady claim to a set of resources the firm must be contractually entitled to the resources as private property. Hence, it is important to study the codevelopment between firms and the legal framework on the matter of property.
These transactions provide the foundation for the intangible value of the firm as property. Intangible value emerges as the firm is able to maintain differential advantage with respect to other participants in the market, as well as maintain control over stages in the production process in which the firm is engaged, while exerting its influence over matters of market governance. Precisely how society chooses to assign rights to such property is a matter of primary importance from the standpoint of determining the status of vestiture. Hence, insofar as firms embody the creation of property and affect existing claims to property, it is necessary to adjust the legal framework to establish a coherent system