Résumé (EN)

This article examines the railway concessions in France in the 19th century as examples of a principal – agent relationship between the state and a contractor. I show that one of the main assumptions of the agency theory, the asymmetric information at the benefit of the agent, is not verified. I also present a new approach by defining the interest guarantee as a specific sort of risk sharing that diminishes the effort incentive. While the principal–agent model predicts increased effort on the part of the agent under conditions of risk sharing, I demonstrate that railway companies made less effort to efficiently manage their operations. Therefore, I suggest that agency theory does not account for the efficiency and the function of 19th century railway concessions in France. After briefly retracing the history of these concessions, I introduce the theoretical framework of the principal – agent model then I apply it to the particular case of the French railway concessions.