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Choregia and trierarchy as profit-oriented entrepreneurships

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua Günther

    (University of Kiel)

  • Felix Hahn

    (University of Kiel)

Abstract

With regards to the model of the homo oeconomicus this paper argues that incentives for performing liturgies in classical Athens were based on profit-oriented calculation rather than desire to gain support for public offices. In classical Athens democratic measures diminished the power of single-person offices which led to a decrease in the desire to hold such offices by the aristocracy. Simultaneously, recourse to altruistic incentives is incompatible with the costs of liturgies and the effort some members of Athens society made in order to perform them. Careful examination of past research on liturgical spending in classical Athens and an analysis of coeval conditions show the validity of economic instruments that lead to a rational-actor perspective on public spending under the incentive of financial gain rather than non-monetary profit.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Günther & Felix Hahn, 2019. "Choregia and trierarchy as profit-oriented entrepreneurships," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 177-193, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:30:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s10602-019-09276-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-019-09276-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kaiser, Brooks A., 2007. "The Athenian Trierarchy: Mechanism Design for the Private Provision of Public Goods," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 445-480, June.
    2. Carl Hampus Lyttkens, 1997. "A Rational-Actor Perspective on the Origin of Liturgies in Ancient Greece," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 153(3), pages 462-462, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emmanouil-Marios L. Economou & Nicholas C. Kyriazis & Nikolaos A. Kyriazis, 2021. "Money Decentralization under Direct Democracy Procedures. The Case of Classical Athens," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ancient Athens; Choregia; Public finance; Trierarchy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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