'Global' Markets in Theory and History : Towards a Comparative Analysis

This paper argues against the widely shared assumption that the coordination of markets depends primarily or exclusively on institutions at the level of the nation state. It shows instead that coordination problems of ‘global’ markets can be addressed through a variety of governance mechanisms combining different forms of private and public authority. This is illustrated through an analysis of long-distance exchange networks and cross-border markets in late medieval Europe, which emerged and operated within a polycentric and multilayered transjurisdictional system long before the rise of the nation state. The paper concludes that a comparison of different historical forms of transnational markets can open new perspectives for analyzing the contemporary era of globalization