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What do Notaries do?. Overcoming Asymmetric Information in Financial Markets: The Case of Paris, 1751

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  • Philip T. Hoffman
  • Gilles Postel-Vinay
  • Jean-Laurent Rosenthal

Abstract

Using evidence from 18th century Paris, we explore how financial intermediaries resolved problems of asymmetric information in financial markets. The Parisian intermediaries were notaries, and after examining their role in asset markets, we develop a more general model of intermediaries' behavior and then test the model using a rich set of data from Paris. Institutions for disseminating information insured that intermediaries provided high quality service, and such institutions were central to the growth of asset markets in pre-industrial Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip T. Hoffman & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 1998. "What do Notaries do?. Overcoming Asymmetric Information in Financial Markets: The Case of Paris, 1751," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 154(3), pages 499-499, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:mhr:jinste:urn:sici:0932-4569(199809)154:3_499:wdnd_2.0.tx_2-h
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    1. Greif, Avner, 1989. "Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 857-882, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Benito Arruñada, 2007. "Market and institutional determinants in the regulation of conveyancers," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 93-116, April.
    2. Alberto Bennardo & Marco Pagano & Salvatore Piccolo, 2015. "Multiple Bank Lending, Creditor Rights, and Information Sharing," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 519-570.
    3. Marcella Lorenzini, 2015. "Notarial Credit in Eighteenth-Century Trentino: Dynamics and Trends," DEM Working Papers 2015/01, Department of Economics and Management.
    4. Víctor M. Gómez‐Blanco, 2024. "A safe asset in early modern Castile, 1543–1714," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(1), pages 212-243, February.
    5. Fantacci, Luca & Lorenzini, Marcella, 2024. "Technology versus trust: Non-bank credit systems from notarized loans in Early Modern Europe to cryptolending," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 83-95.
    6. Kaire Põder, 2010. "Credible commitment and cartel: the case of the Hansa merchant in the guild of late medieval Tallin," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 43-60, June.
    7. Luciano Lavecchia & Carlo Stagnaro, 2019. "There ain’t no such thing as a free deed: the case of Italian notaries," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 277-290, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G29 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Other
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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