I've been reading enough 16th-17th century history recently that now I'm wondering why joint stock companies developed when they did, and not earlier. Examples include the Muscovy Company, the Virginia Company, the VOC, the British East India Company, the South Sea Company, etc. Shouldn't entities like them have developed in the 15th century after the invention of Gutenberg's printing press and caravels? Why didn't they develop elsewhere, especially in China which had much earlier printing and well-developed sailing technologies (e.g. voyages of Zheng He)?