IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/sfb649/sfb649dp2006-049.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The influence of information costs on the integration of financial markets: Northern Europe, 1350-1560

Author

Listed:
  • Volckart, Oliver

Abstract

In this paper, the influence of information costs on the integration of Northern European financial markets between ca. 1350 and 1560 is explored. The approach is based on splitting information costs into their constitutive components and on measuring one of these, i.e. the costs of transmitting information, which have particular importance for market integration. The analysis has two main results: First, under pre-industrial conditions, when transmitting information was extremely labour intensive and very little capital intensive, transmission costs can be largely identified with labour costs, and were subject to the same influences. Next, the integration of financial markets depended crucially on the level of transmission costs, high costs being strongly and significantly correlated with weak integration, while lower costs favoured convergence.

Suggested Citation

  • Volckart, Oliver, 2006. "The influence of information costs on the integration of financial markets: Northern Europe, 1350-1560," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2006-049, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2006-049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/25132/1/518431819.PDF
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Trabandt, Mathias & Uhlig, Harald, 2006. "How far are we from the slippery slope? The Laffer curve revisited," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2006-023, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    2. Schubert, Eric S., 1989. "Arbitrage in the foreign exchange markets of London and Amsterdam during the 18th century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-20, January.
    3. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    4. Dudley, Leonard, 1999. "Communications and economic growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 595-619, March.
    5. Blum, Ulrich & Dudley, Leonard, 2003. "Standardised Latin and medieval economic growth," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 213-238, August.
    6. Volckart, Oliver & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2006. "Estimating Financial Integration in the Middle Ages: What Can We Learn from a TAR Model?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 122-139, March.
    7. Barzel,Yoram, 1997. "Economic Analysis of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521597135, February.
    8. North, Douglass C, 1987. "Institutions, Transaction Costs and Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 419-428, July.
    9. Eggertsson,Thrainn, 1990. "Economic Behavior and Institutions," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521348911, October.
    10. John H. Munro, 2001. "Money, Wages, and Real Incomes in the Age of Erasmus: The Purchasing Power of Coins and of Building Craftsmen's Wages in England and the Low Countries, 1500 - 1540," Working Papers munro-01-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    11. John H. Munro, 1998. "The Maze of Medieval Mint Metrology in Flanders, France and England: Determining the Weight of the Marc de Troyes and the Tower Pound from the Economics of Counterfeiting, 1388 - 1469," Working Papers munro-98-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    12. Volckart, Oliver, 2004. "The economics of feuding in late medieval Germany," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 282-299, July.
    13. N. J. Mayhew, 1974. "Numismatic Evidence and Falling Prices in the Fourteenth Century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 27(1), pages 1-15, February.
    14. Neal, Larry, 1987. "The Integration and Efficiency of the London and Amsterdam Stock Markets in the Eighteenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 97-115, March.
    15. North, Douglass C., 1984. "Government and the Cost of Exchange in History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 255-264, June.
    16. Neal, Larry, 1985. "Integration of International Capital Markets: Quantitative Evidence from the Eighteenth to Twentieth Centuries," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(2), pages 219-226, June.
    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. Lars Boerner & Oliver Volckart, 2009. "Currency unions, optimal currency areas and the integration of financial markets: Central Europe, 14-16thcenturies," Working Papers 9012, Economic History Society.
    2. Edvinsson, Rodney & Franzén, Bo & Söderberg, Johan, 2009. "The Swedish System of Payment 995-1534," Stockholm Papers in Economic History 9, Stockholm University, Department of Economic History.
    3. Bellalah, Mondher & Bradford, Marc & Zhang, Detao, 2016. "A general theory of corporate international investment under incomplete information, short sales and taxes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 615-626.
    4. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2007-007 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Volckart, Oliver, 2007. "Rules, discretion or reputation? Monetary policies and the efficiency of financial markets in Germany, 14th to 16th centuries," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2007-007, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.

    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. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2006-049 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Chilosi, David & Schulze, Max-Stephan & Volckart, Oliver, 2018. "Benefits of Empire? Capital Market Integration North and South of the Alps, 1350–1800," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 637-672, September.
    3. Chilosi, David & Volckart, Oliver, 2009. "Money, states and empire: financial integration cycles and institutional change in Central Europe, 1400-1520," Economic History Working Papers 27884, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    4. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2007-007 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Volckart, Oliver, 2007. "Rules, discretion or reputation? Monetary policies and the efficiency of financial markets in Germany, 14th to 16th centuries," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2007-007, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    6. Lars Boerner & Oliver Volckart, 2009. "Currency unions, optimal currency areas and the integration of financial markets: Central Europe, 14-16thcenturies," Working Papers 9012, Economic History Society.
    7. Mueller, Bernardo, 2018. "Property Rights Implications for the Brazilian Forest Code," Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural (RESR), Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural, vol. 56(2), January.
    8. Boerner, Lars & Volckart, Oliver, 2011. "The utility of a common coinage: Currency unions and the integration of money markets in late Medieval Central Europe," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 53-65, January.
    9. Marie-Thérèse Boyer & Ghislain Deleplace & Lucien Gillard, 1992. "A la recherche d'un âge d'or des marchés financiers : intégration et efficience au XVIIIe siècle," Cahiers d'Économie Politique, Programme National Persée, vol. 20(1), pages 33-65.
    10. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2006. "How Property Rights Economics Furthers the Resource-Based View: Resources, Transaction Costs and Entrepreneurial Discovery," Working Papers 06-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    11. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055, October.
    12. Mahoney, Joseph T., 2012. "Towards a Stakeholder Theory of Strategic Management," Working Papers 12-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    13. Denzel, Markus A., 1999. "Magyarország integrálódása a nemzetközi készpénz nélküli fizetési forgalom rendszerébe a 19. századtól a két világháború közötti időszakig. A nemzetközi készpénz nélküli fizetési forgalom integrációjá," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(6), pages 564-575.
    14. Klein, Peter G. & Mahoney, Joseph T. & McGahan, Anita M. & Pitelis, Christos N., 2012. "Who Is in Charge? A Property Rights Perspective on Stakeholder Governance," Working Papers 12-0102, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    15. Lueck, Dean & Miceli, Thomas J., 2007. "Property Law," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 183-257, Elsevier.
      • Dean Lueck & Thomas J. Miceli, 2004. "Property Law," Working papers 2004-04, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    16. Helder Marcos Freitas Pereira & Maria Sylvia Macchione Saes, 2022. "Government Support and Institutions’ Intermediation throughout Companies’ Adaptation to the COVID-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, May.
    17. Brooks, Robert & Davidson, Sinclair & Faff, Robert, 2003. "Sudden changes in property rights: the case of Australian native title," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 427-442, December.
    18. Li Tian, 2008. "The Chengzhongcun Land Market in China: Boon or Bane? — A Perspective on Property Rights," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 282-304, June.
    19. Jeffery S. McMullen, 2011. "Delineating the Domain of Development Entrepreneurship: A Market–Based Approach to Facilitating Inclusive Economic Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 185-215, January.
    20. Whitten, Stuart M. & Salzman, James & Shelton, Dave & Procter, Wendy, 2003. "Markets for ecosystem services: Applying the concepts," 2003 Conference (47th), February 12-14, 2003, Fremantle, Australia 58269, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    21. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    22. Börner, Lars & Severgnini, Battista, 2011. "Epidemic trade," Discussion Papers 2011/12, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial markets; integration; information costs; economic history;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration
    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2006-049. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sohubde.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.