Early Modern historians have long been fascinated by the mercantile world of the late medieval and early modern periods. The reason for their fascination can be ascribed to the wealth, cosmopolitism, social capital and political clout that many of these merchants (mostly men) projected onto...

The notion of the 'Silk Road' that the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen invented in the 19th century has lost attraction to scholars in light of large amounts of new evidence and new approaches. The handbook suggests new conceptual and methodological tools for researching ancient...

We present new data documenting medieval Europe’s Commercial Revolution” using information on the establishment of markets in Germany. We use these data to test whether medieval universities played a causal role in expanding economic activity, examining the foundation of Germany’s first...

Using historical data, we test the validity of Wagner's law of increasing state activity at different stages of economic development for five industrialized European countries: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Italy. In order to investigate the coherence between Wagner's law and...

The paper presents a consumer price index for Denmark 1502-2007. For the post-1815 period the index is based on existing CPI figures whereas new data has been constructed for the pre-1815 period. For the earliest years 1502-1712 the new CPI covers only the price of corn, whereas the period...

The historical experience from the past 100 years or so indicates that parts of the labourmarket structure in Denmark are endogenously dependent on the monetary regime. A credible monetary regime that delivers on the final target of price stability gives a basis for inflation expectations firmly...

The trade in Mitrowitz in the period following the signing of the commercial treaty of Passarowitz between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1718 was lively. It reflected the characteristics of both domestic and border trade, but Mitrowitz also served as a transit region. Commercial activities...

During much of the previous era of globalization, from the 1860s until the First World War, U. S. tariffs were surprisingly high. Present-day economic historians have suggested that U. S. protection as the result of a backlash against globalization that was the beginning of its decline. They...

This research examines the economic origins and spread of Islam in the Old World and uncovers two empirical regularities. First, Muslim countries and ethnic groups exhibit highly unequal regional agricultural endowments. Second, Muslim adherence is systematically higher along the pre-Islamic...

We analyse trade between countries of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance in Eastern Europe between 1950 and 1990. Despite central planning and political motivation of the CMEA, we show that trade could be explained by standard demand factors surprisingly well. Moreover, we document that...