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Markets in pre-industrial societies : storage in Hellenistic Babylonia in the medieval English mirror
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Leeuwen, Bas van, Földvári, Peter and Pirngruber, Reinhard (2011) Markets in pre-industrial societies : storage in Hellenistic Babylonia in the medieval English mirror. Journal of Global History, Vol.6 (No.2). pp. 169-193. doi:10.1017/S1740022811000210 ISSN 1740-0228.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1740022811000210
Abstract
At least some ancient civilizations used various risk-management strategies to minimize price volatility. In this article, we examine one such strategy, grain storage, by means of a dataset recently made available that provides agricultural prices for Babylonia during the Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods (c.400–65 BCE). A comparative analysis of medieval England and Hellenistic Babylonia reveals a low level of inter-annual storage in both economies, and helps us to compare the costs and benefits in each society. Costs are largely equated with interest rates, and benefits with seasonal price changes. Unlike in England, Babylonia’s dual crop structure (barley and dates) reduced seasonality and thus the potential benefits of storage. There is no evidence, however, that storage costs – that is, interest rates – were likewise lower. This suggests that interest rates were primarily determined in the urban and commercial sectors, not the agricultural one. Consequently, measures of seasonal price changes in pre-modern economies may tell us relatively little about interest rates. While the McCloskey–Nash methodology may be helpful in analysing particular economies, it is perhaps of limited use for comparing them.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions | ||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Civilization, Ancient -- Economic aspects, Babylonia -- Economic conditions, England -- Economic conditions, Risk management -- Babylonia, Grain -- Storage -- Babylonia, Interest rates -- Babylonia, Interest rates -- England -- History -- To 1500 | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Global History | ||||
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | ||||
ISSN: | 1740-0228 | ||||
Official Date: | 2011 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.6 | ||||
Number: | No.2 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 169-193 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1017/S1740022811000210 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 18 December 2015 | ||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 18 December 2015 | ||||
Funder: | Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research] (NWO) |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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