UID:
(DE-602)kobvindex_INT73224
Format:
1 online resource (231 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9781848935372
,
9781351568999
Content:
In the early modern period, trade became a truly global phenomenon. The logistics, financial and organizational complexity associated with it increased in order to connect distant geographies and merchants from different backgrounds. How did these merchants prevent their partners from dishonesty in a time where formal institutions and legislation did not traverse these different worlds? This book studies the mechanisms and criteria of cooperation in early modern trading networks. It uses an interdisciplinary approach, through the case study of a Castilian long-distance merchant of the sixteenth century, Simon Ruiz, who traded within the limits of the Portuguese and Spanish overseas empires. Early Modern Trading Networks in Europe discusses the importance of reciprocity mechanisms, trust and reputation in the context of early modern business relations, using network analysis methodology, combining quantitative data with qualitative information. It considers how cooperation and prevention could simultaneously create a business relationship, and describes the mechanisms of control, policing and punishment used to avoid opportunism and deception among a group of business partners. Using bills of exchange and correspondence from Simon Ruiz's private archive, it charts the evolution of this business network through time, debating which criteria should be included or excluded from business networks, as well as the emergence of standards. This book intends to put forward a new approach to early modern trade which focusses on individuals interacting in self-organized structures, rather than on States or Empires. It shows how indirect reciprocity was much more frequent than direct reciprocity among early modern merchants and how informal norms, like ostracism and signalling, helped to prevent defection and deception in an effective way. This book will
Content:
be of interest to all early modern historians, especially those with an interest
Note:
Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- Network analysis brief glossary -- Introduction -- Cooperation and early modern trading networks -- Simon Ruiz (1525/6-1597), a representative case study -- Sources -- Structure -- 1 A model for the study of historic business cooperation -- Cooperation: mechanisms and conditions for emergence -- Self-organization: a concept for the better understanding of trading networks -- Methodological option: social network analysis -- 2 The evolution of the Simon Ruiz network and partner choice criteria -- The initial years -- The first expansion period: 1560-4 -- An unstable stability (1565-8) -- Difficult years (1569-73) -- The crisis opportunity (1574-80) -- Europe in conflict (1588-90) -- The end of a generation (1595-97) -- Evolution and resilience in the Simon Ruiz trading network -- 3 The proximity to power -- Before 1574: power and trade -- Finance and power interactions -- Proximity to power, business networks and cooperation -- 4 Endogamy in early modern trade: a necessity? The case of the Simon Ruiz network -- Kin endogamy: the case of the Ruiz family -- Confessional endogamy -- National endogamy -- Homophily vs diversity in early modern trading networks -- 5 Mechanisms of economic cooperation and competition between Simon Ruiz and his agents in Portugal, 1557-80 -- Communication relations and the circulation of information -- Collaboration ties -- Non-cooperative behaviour -- 6 Informal promoters of merchant cooperation: the power of trust, gossip and reputation -- Trust-building in early modern merchant networks -- Reputation and rumour -- Reputation and norms: punishment and signalling -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index
Additional Edition:
Print version Ribeiro, Ana Sofia Early Modern Trading Networks in Europe Oxford : Taylor & Francis Group,c2015 ISBN 9781848935372
Language:
English
Keywords:
Electronic books
URL:
FULL
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