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Trade and the End of Antiquity

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Boehm

    (Graduate Institute Geneva, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Thomas Chaney

    (USC - University of Southern California, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

What caused the end of antiquity, the shift of economic activity away from the Mediterranean towards northern Europe and the Middle East? To answer this question, we assemble a database of hundreds of thousands of ancient coins from the 4th to the 10th century, estimate a dynamic model of trade and money where coins gradually diffuse along trade routes, and recover regional real consumption time series. Our estimates suggest that technical progress, increased minting, and to a lesser degree the fall in trade flows over the newly formed border between Islam and Christianity contributed to the relative growth of Muslim Spain and the Frankish lands of northern Europe and the decline of the Roman-Byzantine world. Our estimates are consistent with the increased urbanization of western and northern Europe relative to the eastern Mediterranean from the 8th to the 10th century.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Boehm & Thomas Chaney, 2024. "Trade and the End of Antiquity," Working Papers hal-04900745, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04900745
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-04900745v1
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    File URL: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-04900745v1/document
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