While several studies have shed light on the emergence of consumer society in Western Europe and the Atlantic world, our knowledge on the spread of new consumption patterns in regions beyond the core areas of European economic development is still limited. To gain insights into patterns of...

We introduce a new dataset on British exports at the bilateral, commodity-level from 1700 to 1899. We then pit two primary determinants of bilateral trade against one another: the trade-diminishing effects of distance versus the trade-enhancing effects of the British Empire. We find that the...

This paper quantifies the impact of the 1630-1631 Italian plague on the business activities of the Florentine merchant-bank Saminiati & Guasconi. Employing AI for handwriting recognition on over 6,000 bank letters we show that letters and goods transactions decreased by two-thirds when a...

This paper examines the responses of Indigenous nations and European companies to new trading opportunities: Cree nations and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and Khoe nations and the Dutch East India Company (VOC). This case study is important because of the disparate outcomes: within a few...

Medieval and Early-Modern business correspondence between European companies constitutes a rich source of economic, business, and trade information in that the writing of letters was the very instrument through which merchants ordered and organized the shipments of goods, and performed financial...

Medieval and Early-Modern business correspondence between European companies constitutes a rich source of economic, business, and trade information in that the writing of letters was the very instrument through which merchants ordered and organized the shipments of goods, and performed financial...

In this study we evaluate the role that Mediterranean Medieval trade with Africa and the Middle-East still plays today in Italian politics by shaping the attitudes towards migrants of individuals that live close to Medieval ports. Trade connections between Medieval ports and Muslim Africa and...

This Policy Brief looks at the latest trends in services trade and tries to show their importance, in its various manifestations, for virtually all countries in the world. The paper starts with a short history of trade in services across centuries. Fast forward to today's realities, the paper...

Maritime piracy is a pressing global economic and security challenge, posing significant threats to international shipping and global trade. Contemporary piracy is intrinsically linked to matters of governance and economic marginalization fostered by the globalization of the world economy. The...

The article discusses the advancement of timber traders and former middlemen in Riga's timber trade during the second half of the 19 th and early 20 th century. Using methods from spatial history, statistical data on the Riga timber trade and archival documents from the timber trade files in the...

This study explores the economic cohesion of two German areas, Hamburg and Saxony, in the 18 th century, created through the inflow of Atlantic colonial groceries from the former to the latter. Combining different kinds of sources revealed the following. The trade flow from Hamburg to German...

This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' - a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared...

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...

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...

This article documents the migration of Afghanistan’s Sikh communities to Asia and Europe during the Cold War and its aftermath. It analyses these migratory trajectories both in the context of conflict in Afghanistan and the refugee flows it created as well as in relation to the long-term role...

This paper examines the long-term economic impacts of the adoption of local knowledge during European colonisation. We use the case of Australia, where Aboriginal knowledge of the landscape was integral to colonial exploration and settlement. To quantify the effects of this knowledge, we...

Economic historian Robert Allen observed that during the Industrial Revolution, the British working class experienced a period of stagnant real wages. This has led many historians to investigate changes in the diet of the working class during that time. While there has been a focus on the entire...

Provincializing Empire explores the global history of Japanese expansion through a regional lens. It rethinks the nation-centered geography and chronology of empire by uncovering the pivotal role of expeditionary merchants from Ōmi (present-day Shiga Prefecture) and their modern successors....

Introduction -- Historical Perspectives -- The Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman Islands and Ports Trade with the Indian Subcontinent in the Sasanian Period -- The Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman During the Reign of the Seljuk and the Solqori⁠ -- The Impact of the Tribal and Clan System on the...

Historians explain the eighteenth-century origin of European colonialism in Asia either with the profile of the merchants or an argument about uneven power. This Element suggests that the environment was an important factor, too. With India (1600-1800) as the primary example, it says that the...

"The maritime legal framework, of General Average (GA), remains an enigmatic and overlooked process within the history of seaborne trade. An ancient rule that predates Roman Law, it continues to be operational today, in a largely unchanged state, mandating the redistribution of unexpected costs...

1. Introduction -- 2. Gerónimo de Uztáriz, his Life and his Work -- 3. Uztáriz and the Bourbon Public Administration -- 4. The ‘Théorica’ in its International Context -- 5. Uztáriz and his sources: between Political Arithmetic, Colbertism and Arbitrism -- 6. Currency, Tariffs and the...

"For the first time, The Merchant of Venice looks at the place and role of the late medieval merchant nobility in the great international trade that took place in the world known at the time, from China and Asia to Flanders and England. These merchants who travelled the world were also...

When Government of India on November 8th 2016 announced that currency of five hundred & one thousand will be no more in legal tender, the whole nation were, at the moment stunned & the people were amazed of government’s abrupt move. People could find difficulty in meeting their daily needs;...

We provide a new theory and evidence on colonial border formation in Africa. Existing accounts highlight that Europeans unilaterally drew arbitrary international borders in ignorance of local conditions. We instead show that African border formation was a dynamic process that lasted for decades,...