Authors
Yadira Gonzalez De Lara
Publication date
2008/12
Journal
European review of economic history
Volume
12
Issue
3
Pages
247-285
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Description
This article examines the institutional foundations of the financial market underpinning Venice's commercial success during the late medieval period. A public-order, reputation-based institution enabled merchants to commit (i) not to flee with investors' capital, despite the limited geographical reach of the legal system, and (ii) not to breach their contracts, despite the investors' inability to directly monitor them. Economic rents in Venice motivated merchants to submit to the city's authorities, while tight administrative trading controls provided the information required to verify a contractual breach. These institutional arrangements differed from other public-order and reputation-based institutions that have been considered in the literature.
Total citations
Scholar articles
YG De Lara - European review of economic history, 2008
Y González de Lara - The secret of venetian success: the role of the state in …, 2005