‘Whatever is,is right’? Economic institutions in pre-industrial Europe1

Institutions—the structures of rules and norms governing economic transactions—are widely assigned a central role in economic development. Yet economic history is still dominated by the belief that institutions arise and survive because they are economically efficient. This article shows that alternative explanations of institutions, particularly those incorporating distributional effects, are consistent with economic theory and supported by empirical findings. Distributional conflicts provide a better explanation than efficiency for the core economic institutions of pre-industrial Europe: serfdom, the community, the craft guild, and the merchant guild. The article concludes by proposing four desiderata for any economic theory of institutions.     

The grain trade in northern Europe before 1350

A network of interregional grain routes extended across northern Europe in the century before 1350. With an interlude from c . 1310 to 1330 English grain was shipped to western Norway and the last decades before 1350 witnessed increasing English deliveries to the Netherlands. The most important of these commercial links were the grain routes from Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia to Norway, England, and the Netherlands established on a regular basis c . 1300. In western Europe the Baltic grain deliveries were an alternative source of supply which affected prices, urbanization, and the profitability of arable farming.     

Financial market integration, stock markets and exchange rate dynamics in Eastern Europe

International capital flows in a system of flexible exchange rates will affect stock market dynamics and stock market developments should affect capital flows and the exchange rate respectively. In this analysis, four accession countries have been considered in order to examine any potential links between nominal stock market index and nominal exchange rate. For this purpose, monthly data were used. The cointegration concept was employed for testing long-term links and the VAR approach for short-term links. Finally, Granger causality tests were employed for the determination of the exogenous and endogenous variables. The results show that significant links exist between the stock market index and the foreign exchange rate for three countries, where for Poland, both long-term and short-term links exist. The other key aspect considered in this analysis is the stock market integration in Eastern European countries. Our analysis shows that the integration of the stock markets in Eastern European countries seems to be rather week except for the Hungarian stock market. This means that only the Hungarian stock market is integrated. A standard regression analysis reveals that the Hungarian market exhibits a strong co-movement with the benchmark market, i.e. the German stock market. Furthermore, there is a clear-cut result with respect to the dynamic of stock market synchronization. The degree of synchronization increased particularly in the period 2005–2008.     

The evolution of markets in early modern Europe, 1350–1800: a study of wheat prices1

Using a compilation of monthly and annual wheat price data, this article examines the trend of market development in Europe from the late medieval period to the industrial revolution. In contrast to much of the earlier scholarship, which suggests that markets improved, the findings propose that markets were on average as well integrated in Europe in the early sixteenth century as in the late eighteenth century. In the intervening period, markets are found to have suffered a severe contraction. These findings enable us to build a more complete picture of markets in history, and to carry out a better examination of the relationship between markets and economic growth.     

The decline of child labour: labour markets and family economies in Europe and North America since 1830

This survey of the ‘adulting’ of national and family economies argues that understanding of the segmentation of labour markets and of the male breadwinner has been impoverished by a failure to consider age alongside gender, and that we are at best in a situation where contextualized studies may provide some insight into reasons for the decline of child labour. With respect to family economies, there has been very little study of the timing or cause of the diminution of children's contributions, or of how, if at all, that decline is related to the rise in married women's participation in the labour force.     

The utility of a common coinage: Currency unions and the integration of money markets in late Medieval Central Europe

This paper employs a new method and dataset to estimate the effect of currency unions on the integration of financial markets in late Medieval Central Europe. The analysis reveals that membership in a union was significantly correlated with well-integrated markets. We also examine whether currency unions were endogenous. Our results indicate that where unions were established, markets had been significantly better integrated already in the preceding period. In addition, we show that currency unions created by autonomous merchant towns were better integrated than unions implemented by territorial rulers. The overall implication is that monetary diversity was a corollary of weakly integrated markets in late Medieval Central Europe.     

我国货币市场和资本市场有效沟通问题的实证研究

货币市场和资本市场是我国金融体系的重要组成部分。有效沟通两个市场,促进两个市场共同发展,可以有力支持国有企业改革,促进企业产权流动和重组,优化产业结构,进而促进社会主义市场经济的发展。因此在现阶段,研究如何增强两个市场的有效沟通和联系,以便在新世纪发展大格局中     

The New Economy in Europe, 1992-2001

Despite the fast catching up in the diffusion of informationand communication technologies (ICT) experienced by most EUcountries in the last few years, information technologies haveso far delivered few productivity gains in Europe. In the secondhalf of the past decade, the growth contributions from ICT capitalrose in six EU countries only (the UK, Denmark, Finland, Sweden,Ireland, and Greece). Unlike in the USA, this has not generallybeen associated with higher labour or total factor productivity(TFP) growth rates, the only exceptions being Ireland and Greece.Particularly worrying, the large countries in Continental Europe(Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) showed stagnating or mildlydeclining growth contributions from ICT capital, together withdefinite declines in TFP growth compared to the first half ofthe 1990s. It looks as though the celebrated ‘Solow paradox’on the lack of correlation between ICT investment and productivitygrowth has fled the USA and come to Europe.     

The price of human capital in a pre-industrial economy: Premiums and apprenticeship contracts in 18th century England

Training through apprenticeship provided the main mechanism for occupational human capital formation in pre-industrial England. This paper demonstrates how training premiums (fees) complemented the formal legal framework surrounding apprenticeship to secure training contracts. Premiums varied in response to scarcity rents, the expected productivity of masters and apprentices, and served as compensation for the anticipated risk of default. In most trades premiums were small enough to allow access to apprenticeship training for youths from modest families.     

Chinese and world equity markets: A review of the volatilities and correlations in the first fifteen years

After more than 15 years of Chinese equity markets, we study how variance, covariance, and correlations have developed in these markets relative to world markets, based on the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) model of Engle [Engle, R., 2002. A dynamic conditional correlation: A simple class of multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity models. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 20(3), 339–350.]. Chinese markets offer A-shares to domestic investors and otherwise identical B-shares to foreign investors. We find that the volatility of A-shares has declined over the past decade. We find no asymmetric volatility relative to world markets in China. Contrary to the global trend of increasing cross-country correlations, we find stationary correlations for China. A-share indices have never been correlated with world markets, and B-share indices exhibit a low degree of correlation with Western markets (0–5%) and a slightly higher degree of correlation with other Asian markets (10–20%). We interpret these findings using Gordon's growth model.     

The stability and growth pact, fiscal policy institutions and stabilization in Europe

Ever since its inception, the EMU has been subject to controversy. The fiscal policy rules embedded in the Maastricht Treaty, and clarified in the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), are probably the most contentious. The SGP has constantly been accused of being too rigid and of forcing procyclicality in fiscal policy. However, in an influential paper Galí and Perotti (2003) concluded that discretionary fiscal policy has actually become more countercyclical in EMU countries since the Maastricht Treaty. This paper argues that this conclusion stands up to several robustness tests using ex-post data, including the use of institutional variables, but not to the use of real-time data. Using ex-post data, there is some evidence pointing to a more countercyclical use of discretionary fiscal policy (or at least to less use of procyclical discretionary fiscal policy). However, the use of real-time data for the period 1999–2006 reveals that discretionary fiscal policy has been designed to be procyclical. Hence, the actual acyclical behaviour of discretionary fiscal policy in the period after 1999 seems to be simply the result of errors in forecasting the output gap, and not the result of a change in the intentions of policy-makers. As a result, there is no evidence to support the view that Maastricht rules have forced euro-area policy-makers to change their behaviour and design countercyclical discretionary fiscal policies.     

The soviet gain from trade with the west in fuel,grain, and machinery

Zusammenfassung Sowjetische Gewinne aus dem Westhandel mit Brennstoffen, Getreide und Maschinen. — Der Verfasser sch?tzt den Ressourcengewinn, den die UdSSR von 1970 bis 1985 daraus erzielte, da\ sie Roh?l und Erdgas in den Westen exportierte und Getreide und Maschinen importierte. Es zeigt sich, da\ der Austausch von Erdgas gegen Getreide und Maschinen für die Sowjets recht profitabel war, der von Erd?l gegen Getreide dagegen nur einen geringen Gewinn erbrachte und da\ der Verkauf von Erd?l gegen Maschinen sogar zu einem marginalen Verlust geführt hat. Die Ergebnisse deuten au\erdem darauf hin, da\ der gesamte sowjetische Gewinn aus dem Westhandel relativ zum sowjetischen Bruttosozialprodukt gering gewesen ist.

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Résumé Le gain soviétique du commerce extérieur avec l’ouest en pétrole, grain et machines. — Cette étude estime le gain en ressources pour l’URSS en exportant du pétrole brut et du gaz naturel à l’ouest en échange du grain et des machines pendant les années 1970–1985. Les résultats indiquent que le gaz naturel en échange du grain et des machines a été assez profitable pour l’URSS, le pétrole en échange du grain seulement un peu profitable et la vente du pétrole brut en échange des machines a mené à une marge négative. En conséquence, les résultats démontrent que le gain total de l’URSS du commerce avec l’ouest a été, relatif au produit intérieur brut en URSS, peu considérable.

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Resumen Los beneficios soviéticos del comercio de combustibles, granos y maquinaria con Occidente. — En este trabajo se estima en términos de recursos el beneficio que la URSS derivó de la exportación de petróleo crudo y gas natural a Occidente con el fin de importar granos y maquinaria durante el periodo 1970–1985. Los resultados indican que el intercambio de gas natural por granos y maquinaria ha sido beneficioso para los soviéticos, mientras que el de petróleo por granos ha sido sólo marginalmente beneficioso y el de petróleo crudo por maquinaria marginalmente deficitario. Los resultados también sugieren que de acuerdo a las ventajas comparativas el beneficio total para la URSS del comercio con Occidente ha sido marginal en relación al PBI soviético.

     

The City and the Railway in Europe

Book reviewed
Ralf Roth and Marie-Noëlle Polino, (eds), The City and the Railway in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003. Pp. 324. ISBN: 0 7546 0766 6. Hardback £45.00. Reviewed by Gerald Crompton University of Kent     

The rise and demise of gedik markets in Istanbul, 1750–1860

Using new evidence uncovered from Istanbul court records, this paper shows that Ottoman markets were capable of spontaneous financial innovation before the introduction of modern financial instruments. At the same time, however, it demonstrates that the impact and sustainability of these innovations depended on the underlying political equilibrium. Gediks—entitlements to usufruct rights over the factors of production used in urban commercial and industrial activity—gradually transformed into liquid assets during the late eighteenth century. This transformation was enabled by the coercive power of Janissary‐infiltrated guilds in response to the financial needs of small‐ and medium‐scale actors operating within the confines of the domestic economy. The entry barriers, which enabled gedik markets to exist in the first place, also limited their use for growth‐promoting purposes and thus set them apart from similar financial instruments that emerged in the West. Gedik markets disappeared as the Janissary–guild coalition declined and better financial instruments emerged during the mid‐nineteenth century.     

Entrepreneurs,formalization of social ties,and trustbuilding in Europe (fourteenth to twentieth centuries)1

The establishment of trust is a key component of economic activity and social ties can make business dealings work better. However, we do not know much about how economic actors created new social ties deliberately in order to pursue their objectives. This article analyses the way in which merchants and entrepreneurs used specific rituals to establish formal social ties, with the intent of protecting their business relationships. It focuses on relational instruments that until now had been neglected, particularly godparenthood and marriage witnessing. It shows that formalization, ritualization, and publicity of ties were used by entrepreneurs to establish trust with their business associates, for example when information was asymmetric or when institutions were perceived as inefficient in guaranteeing mutual good behaviour. The analysis covers a long period, from the late middle ages to today. It pays particular attention to the consequences of the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth. Contrary to the received wisdom, it suggests that formal social ties such as godparenthood continued to play an important role in economic activity during and after the industrial revolution. New databases on early modern Italy and nineteenth‐century France are used.