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The Design of Debt-Clearing Markets: Clearinghouse Mechanisms in Preindustrial Europe

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  • Lars Börner
  • John William Hatfield

Abstract

We examine the evolution of the decentralized clearinghouse mechanisms that were in use throughout Europe from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth century; in particular, we explore the clearing of nontradable or limited-tradable debts such as bills of exchange. We construct a theoretical model of these clearinghouse mechanisms and show that the specific decentralized multilateral clearing algorithms known as rescontre, skontrieren, or virement des parties, used by merchants in this period, were efficient in specific historical contexts. Our analysis contributes to the understanding of these mechanisms during late medieval and early modern fairs and their robustness during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Börner & John William Hatfield, 2017. "The Design of Debt-Clearing Markets: Clearinghouse Mechanisms in Preindustrial Europe," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(6), pages 1991-2037.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/694288
    DOI: 10.1086/694288
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    Cited by:

    1. Bindseil, Ulrich & Pantelopoulos, George, 2022. "A brief history of payment netting and settlement," IBF Paper Series 02-22, IBF – Institut für Bank- und Finanzgeschichte / Institute for Banking and Financial History, Frankfurt am Main.
    2. Monnet, Eric & Velde, François R., 2020. "Money, Banking, and Old-School Historical Economics," CEPR Discussion Papers 15348, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. TANAKA Mari & NARITA Yusuke & MORIGUCHI Chiaki, 2020. "Meritocracy and Its Discontent: Long-run Effects of Repeated School Admission Reforms," Discussion papers 20002, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Vuillemey, Guillaume, 2018. "Completing Markets with Contracts: Evidence from the First Central Clearing Counterparty," CEPR Discussion Papers 13230, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Masciandaro, Donato & Goodhart, Charles & Ugolini, Stefano, 2021. "Pandemic recession and helicopter money: Venice, 1629–1631," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 300-318, December.
    6. In'acio B'o & Li Chen, 2021. "Designing Heaven's Will: The job assignment in the Chinese imperial civil service," Papers 2105.02457, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    7. Lars Boerner & Daniel Quint, 2023. "Medieval Matching Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(1), pages 23-56, February.
    8. Michael D. Bordo & William Roberds, 2022. "Central Bank Digital Currencies: An Old Tale with a New Chapter," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2022-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    9. Tomaž Fleischman & Paolo Dini, 2021. "Mathematical Foundations for Balancing the Payment System in the Trade Credit Market," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, September.
    10. Fleischman, Tomaž & Dini, Paolo, 2021. "Mathematical foundations for balancing the payment system in the trade credit market," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112151, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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