A Study of the Ownership and Control of Public Companies in New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis sets out the results of a study of the ownership end control of a group of public companies in New Zealand. Little has been written about the joint stock company in New Zealand; this is most surprising because in a capitalist economy companies are the predominant from of economic organization. The data available on most phases of finance has improved considerably in recent years but share ownership has remained an almost entirely neglected field. For many years various people and organizations have been interested in the ownership and control of public companies in New Zealand but there is virtually no factual evidence available. This is in marked contrast to many other countries where the facts about ownership and control have been known for several years. Accordingly, this thesis aims to fill this gap in the information available about the New Zealand economy.