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Rules, Discretion or Reputation? Monetary Policies and the Efficiency of Financial Markets in Germany, 14th to 16th Centuries

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Oliver Volckart

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Abstract

This paper examines the questions of whether and how feudal rulers were able to credibly commit to preserving monetary stability, and of which consequences their decisions had for the efficiency of financial markets. The study reveals that princes were usually only able to commit to issuing a stable coinage in gold, but not in silver. As for silver currencies, the hypothesis is that transferring the right of coinage to an autonomous city was the functional equivalent to establishing an independent central bank. An analysis of market performance indicates that financial markets between cities that were autonomous with regard to their monetary policies were significantly better integrated and more efficient than markets between cities whose currencies were supplied by a feudal ruler.

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Paper provided by Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany in its series SFB 649 Discussion Papers with number SFB649DP2007-007.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2007
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Handle: RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2007-007

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Related research
Keywords: Financial markets; integration; monetary policy; Middle Ages;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kreps, David M. & Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John & Wilson, Robert, 1982. "Rational cooperation in the finitely repeated prisoners' dilemma," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-252, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Volckart, Oliver & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2006. "Estimating Financial Integration in the Middle Ages: What Can We Learn from a TAR Model?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(01), pages 122-139, March. [Downloadable!]
  3. Ritschl, Albrecht & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2003. "Endogeneity of Currency Areas and Trade Blocs: Evidence from the Inter-war Period," CEPR Discussion Papers 4112, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Robert J. Barro & David B. Gordon, 1984. "Rules, Discretion and Reputation in a Model of Monetary Policy," NBER Working Papers 1079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Munro, John H., 2000. "The 'New Institutional Economics' and the Changing Fortunes of Fairs in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: the Textile Trades, Warfare, and Transaction Costs," MPRA Paper 11029, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2001. [Downloadable!]
  6. Kydland, Finn E. & Prescott, Edward C., 1980. "Dynamic optimal taxation, rational expectations and optimal control," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 79-91, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Oliver Volckart, 2006. "The Influence of Information Costs on the Integration of Financial Markets: Northern Europe, 1350-1560," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2006-049, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Peter N. Ireland, 2002. ""Rules Rather Than Discretion" After Twenty Five Years: What Have We Learned? What More Can We Learn?," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 530, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Sussman, Nathan, 1998. "The Late Medieval Bullion Famine Reconsidered," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(01), pages 126-154, March. [Downloadable!]
  10. Klein, Benjamin, 1974. "The Competitive Supply of Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(4), pages 423-53, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. North, Douglass C, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Sussman, Nathan & Zeira, Joseph, 2003. "Commodity money inflation: theory and evidence from France in 1350-1436," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(8), pages 1769-1793, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1977. "Rules Rather Than Discretion: The Inconsistency of Optimal Plans," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(3), pages 473-91, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Rolnick, Arthur J. & Velde, Fran?ois R. & Weber, Warren E., 1996. "The Debasement Puzzle: An Essay on Medieval Monetary History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(04), pages 789-808, December. [Downloadable!]
  15. Neal, Larry, 1987. "The Integration and Efficiency of the London and Amsterdam Stock Markets in the Eighteenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(01), pages 97-115, March. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ya'acov Ritov & Wolfgang Härdle, 2007. "From Animal Baits to Investors’ Preference: Estimating and Demixing of the Weight Function in Semiparametric Models for Biased Samples," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-024, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lydia Mechtenberg, 2007. "Ideology Without Ideologists," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-021, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Kerstin Kiefer & Philipp Schorn, 2007. "Auswirkungen der IFRS-Umstellung auf die Risikoprämie von Unternehmensanleihen - Eine empirische Studie für Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-056, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  4. Marcus Wagner, 2007. "Determinants of the Acquisition of Smaller Firms by Larger Incumbents in High-Tech Industries: Are they related to Innovation and Technology Sourcing?," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-063, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Enzo Giacomini & Wolfgang Härdle, 2007. "Statistics of Risk Aversion," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-025, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  6. Werner Kunz, 2007. "Visualization of Competitive Market Structure by Means of Choice Data," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-032, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  7. Kai Detlefsen & Wolfgang Härdle & Rouslan Moro, 2007. "Empirical Pricing Kernels and Investor Preferences," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-017, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Alexandra Niessen, 2007. "Media Coverage and Macroeconomic Information Processing," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-011, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  9. Volodymyr Perederiy, 2007. "Kombinierte Liquiditäts- und Solvenzkennzahlen und ein darauf basierendes Insolvenzprognosemodell für deutsche GmbHs," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-060, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  10. Szymon Borak & Wolfgang Härdle & Enno Mammen & Byeong U. Park, 2007. "Time Series Modelling with Semiparametric Factor Dynamics," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-023, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Sebastian Braun & Juliane Scheffel, 2007. "Does International Outsourcing Depress Union Wages?," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-033, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  12. Sebastian Braun & Nadja Dwenger & Dorothea Kübler, 2007. "Telling the Truth May Not Pay Off: An Empirical Study of Centralised University Admissions in Germany," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-070, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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