IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/red/issued/05-106.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal divisibility when money is costly to produce

Author

Listed:
  • Manjong Lee

    (Bank of Korea)

  • Neil Wallace

    (Pennsylvania State University)

Abstract

There is wide agreement that currency was not available in conveniently small denominations prior to the 19th century. Here, estimates of the costs of providing and maintaining money (coins) in 15th century Europe and parameterized versions of a matching model of money are used to find the optimal degree of divisibility. Although the optima are sensitive to the specification of the matching model, the optimal sizes we find agree in order of magnitude with the sizes of the most common coins in 15th century Europe. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Manjong Lee & Neil Wallace, 2006. "Optimal divisibility when money is costly to produce," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(3), pages 541-556, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:05-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2006.05.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2006.05.001
    Download Restriction: Access to full texts is restricted to ScienceDirect subscribers and institutional members. See http://www.sciencedirect.com/ for details.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.red.2006.05.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angela Redish, 2024. "Bimetallism," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 1697-1718, Springer.
    2. Shi Shougong, 1995. "Money and Prices: A Model of Search and Bargaining," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 467-496, December.
    3. Wallace, Neil & Zhou, Ruilin, 1997. "A model of a currency shortage," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 555-572, December.
    4. Wallace, Neil, 2003. "Modeling Small Change: A Review Article," Working Papers 9-03-3, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Economics.
    5. Trejos, Alberto & Wright, Randall, 1995. "Search, Bargaining, Money, and Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(1), pages 118-141, February.
    6. C. C. Patterson, 1972. "Silver Stocks and Losses in Ancient and Medieval Times," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 25(2), pages 205-233, May.
    7. Sargent, Thomas J & Velde, Francois R, 1999. "The Big Problem of Small Change," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 31(2), pages 137-161, May.
    8. Arthur J. Rolnick & Francois R. Velde & Warren E. Weber, 1997. "The debasement puzzle: an essay on medieval monetary history," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 21(Fall), pages 8-20.
    9. Zhu, Tao, 2005. "Existence of a monetary steady state in a matching model: divisible money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 135-160, August.
    10. Taber, Alexander & Wallace, Neil, 1999. "A Matching Model with Bounded Holdings of Indivisible Money," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(4), pages 961-984, November.
    11. Sargent, Thomas J. & Wallace, Meil, 1983. "A model of commodity money," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 163-187.
    12. Manjong Lee & Neil Wallace & Tao Zhu, 2005. "Modeling Denomination Structures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(3), pages 949-960, May.
    13. Wallace, Neil, 2003. "Modeling small change: a review article," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(6), pages 1391-1401, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bouhdaoui, Yassine & Van Hove, Leo, 2017. "On the socially optimal density of coin and banknote series: Do production costs really matter?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 252-267.
    2. Bignon, Vincent & Dutu, Richard, 2017. "Coin Assaying And Commodity Money," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 1305-1335, September.
    3. Young Sik Kim & Manjong Lee, 2012. "Return on Commodity Money, Small Change Problems, and Fiat Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(2‐3), pages 533-549, March.
    4. Hull, Isaiah & Sattath, Or, 2021. "Revisiting the Properties of Money," Working Paper Series 406, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    5. Allan Hernandez-Chanto, 2020. "The extrinsic value of low-denomination money holdings," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(2), pages 263-280, October.
    6. Jin, Gu & Zhu, Tao, 2019. "Debasements and Small Coins: An Untold Story of Commodity Money," MPRA Paper 93057, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Bao, Te & Tian, Xu & Yu, Xiaohua, 2015. "Dictator game with indivisibility of money," Research Report 15001-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jin, Gu & Zhu, Tao, 2019. "Debasements and Small Coins: An Untold Story of Commodity Money," MPRA Paper 93057, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Allan Hernandez-Chanto, 2020. "The extrinsic value of low-denomination money holdings," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(2), pages 263-280, October.
    3. Young Sik Kim & Manjong Lee, 2012. "Return on Commodity Money, Small Change Problems, and Fiat Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(2‐3), pages 533-549, March.
    4. Kim, Young Sik & Lee, Manjong, 2010. "A model of debit card as a means of payment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1359-1368, August.
    5. Manjong Lee, 2007. "Indivisibility and Non-Neutrality of Money," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 23, pages 223-242.
    6. Williamson, Stephen & Wright, Randall, 2010. "New Monetarist Economics: Models," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 25-96, Elsevier.
    7. Wallace, Neil & Zhu, Tao, 2007. "Float on a note," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 229-246, March.
    8. Tao Zhu & Neil Wallace, 2004. "Float on a Note," 2004 Meeting Papers 342, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Nosal, Ed & Waller, Christopher J. & Wright, Randall, 2011. "Introduction To The Macroeconomic Dynamics Special Issues On Money, Credit, And Liquidity," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(S1), pages 1-9, April.
    10. Li, Yiting, 2002. "Government transaction policy and Gresham's law," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 435-453, March.
    11. Huberto M. Ennis, 2003. "Shortages of small change in early Argentina," Working Paper 03-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    12. Wallace, Neil, 2003. "Modeling Small Change: A Review Article," Working Papers 9-03-3, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Economics.
    13. François R. Velde & Warren E. Weber & Randall Wright, 1999. "A Model of Commodity Money, with Applications to Gresham's Law and the Debasement Puzzle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(1), pages 291-323, January.
    14. Xavier Cuadras‐Morató, 2009. "Circulation Of Private Notes During A Currency Shortage," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 77(4), pages 461-478, July.
    15. Pidong Huang & Young Sik Kim & Manjong Lee, 2014. "Optimal Allocation of Social Cost for Electronic Payment System: A Ramsey Approach," Discussion Paper Series 1402, Institute of Economic Research, Korea University.
    16. Ricardo Lagos & Randall Wright, 2005. "A Unified Framework for Monetary Theory and Policy Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 463-484, June.
    17. Huberto M. Ennis, 2006. "The problem of small change in early Argentina," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 92(Spr), pages 93-111.
    18. Bignon, Vincent & Dutu, Richard, 2017. "Coin Assaying And Commodity Money," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 1305-1335, September.
    19. Menzio, Guido & Shi, Shouyong & Sun, Hongfei, 2013. "A monetary theory with non-degenerate distributions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(6), pages 2266-2312.
    20. Guillaume Rocheteau & Pierre-Olivier Weill & Tsz-Nga Wong, 2015. "Working through the Distribution: Money in the Short and Long Run," NBER Working Papers 21779, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Divisibility of currency; Matching model; Coinage in the fifteenth century;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:red:issued:05-106. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christian Zimmermann (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sedddea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.