en
Working paper
Open access
English

Money Markets and Exchange Rates in Pre-Industrial Europe

Number of pages25
PublisherGenève : Université de Genève, Working Papers of the Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History, no 7
Collection
  • Working Papers of the Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History; 7/2017
Publication date2017
Abstract

This chapter focuses on money markets and exchange rates in preindustrial Europe. The foreign exchange market was mostly based on bills of exchange, the instrument used to transfer money and provide credit between distant centers in pre-industrial Europe. In this chapter, first I explain bill of exchange operations, money market integration, usury regulations and circumventions to hide the market interest rate as well as the evolution of bills of exchange in history, focusing mainly on the most relevant features generalized during the first half of the 17th century: endorsement and the joint liability rule, which facilitated the full expansion of the foreign exchange market beyond personal networks. Then, I describe the European geography of money in the mid-18th century, characterized by a very high degree of multilateralism with the triangle of Amsterdam, London and Paris as the backbone of the European settlement system. Finally, I measure the cost of capital and relate it to liquidity. I show evidence of interest rates in the 18th century for Amsterdam, London, Paris and Cadiz. While Amsterdam, London and Paris presented low and similar interest rates, Cadiz had higher interest rates, mostly being double the cost of capital. These results seem to show a high inverse correlation between liquidity and interest rates, suggesting that the share in international trade of European centers might have been a powerful driver of international monetary leadership. While more empirical evidence and further research is needed, this approach opens the scope of the analysis beyond the national institutional explanation.

Keywords
  • Money market
  • Bills of exchange
  • Monetary geography
  • Usury regulations
  • Cost of capital
  • Exchange rates
  • Interest rates
  • Specie-point mechanism
Classification
  • JEL : E42
Citation (ISO format)
NOGUES-MARCO, Pilar. Money Markets and Exchange Rates in Pre-Industrial Europe. 2017
Main files (1)
Working paper
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:100808
569views
1333downloads

Technical informations

Creation12/22/2017 1:54:00 PM
First validation12/22/2017 1:54:00 PM
Update time03/15/2023 7:42:08 AM
Status update03/15/2023 7:42:07 AM
Last indexation05/02/2024 7:51:57 PM
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack