Institutions and European Trade
Merchant Guilds, 1000–1800

A magisterial new history of commercial institutions developed through the study of merchant guilds.

Sheilagh Ogilvie (Author)

9780521747929, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 March 2011

500 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.79 kg

'This book not only effectively demolishes the efficiency thesis regarding merchant guilds, but, more importantly, also provides a framework for analysing institutional change, and it will define the terms of how social institutions should be researched and evaluated for years to come.' Economic History Review

What was the role of merchant guilds in the medieval and early modern economy? Does their wide prevalence and long survival mean they were efficient institutions that benefited the whole economy? Or did merchant guilds simply offer an effective way for the rich and powerful to increase their wealth, at the expense of outsiders, customers and society as a whole? These privileged associations of businessmen were key institutions in the European economy from 1000 to 1800. Historians debate merchant guilds' role in the Commercial Revolution, economists use them to support theories about institutions and development, and policymakers view them as prime examples of social capital, with important lessons for modern economies. Sheilagh Ogilvie's magisterial new history of commercial institutions shows how scrutinizing merchant guilds can help us understand which types of institution made trade grow, why institutions exist, and how corporate privileges affect economic efficiency and human well-being.

1. Merchant guilds, efficiency, and social capital
2. What was a merchant guild?
3. Local merchant guilds
4. Alien merchant guilds and companies
5. Merchant guilds and rulers
6. Commercial security
7. Contract enforcement
8. Principal-agent problems
9. Information
10. Price volatility
11. Institutions, social capital and economic development.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]