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Risky Institutions: Political Regimes and the Cost of Public Borrowing in Early Modern Italy

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  • Chilosi, David

Abstract

By analyzing a newly compiled data set of interest rates on public annuities in early modern Italy, this article finds that the cost of borrowing fell in spite of growing debts and stagnating fiscal revenues. Feudalism and clerical interference increased the cost of borrowing, while parliaments, wars, and centralized fiscal institutions mattered little. The constitutional representation of creditors may have meant significant markups for republican oligarchs. These results cast doubts on the claim that the growth of absolutism was at the root of Italy's economic decline.

Suggested Citation

  • Chilosi, David, 2014. "Risky Institutions: Political Regimes and the Cost of Public Borrowing in Early Modern Italy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 887-915, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:74:y:2014:i:03:p:887-915_00
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    Cited by:

    1. David Chilosi & Carlo Ciccarelli, 2022. "Evolving gaps: Occupational structure in southern and northern Italy, 1400–1861," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1349-1378, November.
    2. Alberto Feenstra, 2015. "Circumventing credible commitment: GroningenÕs default and the Dutch RepublicÕs federal escape route, 1666-1761," Working Papers 0075, Utrecht University, Centre for Global Economic History.
    3. Chilosi, David & Federico, Giovanni, 2015. "Early globalizations: The integration of Asia in the world economy, 1800–1938," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-18.
    4. Chilosi, David & Schulze, Max-Stephan & Volckart, Oliver, 2018. "Benefits of Empire? Capital Market Integration North and South of the Alps, 1350–1800," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 637-672, September.
    5. Mattia Fochesato, 2021. "Plagues, wars, political change, and fiscal capacity: late medieval and Renaissance Siena, 1337–1556," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1031-1061, November.
    6. Leonor Freire Costa & Susana Münch Miranda, 2023. "Reputational recovery under political instability: Public debt in Portugal, 1641–83," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 871-891, August.
    7. Chilosi, David & Ciccarelli, Carlo, 2025. "Smithian growth in the little divergence: a general equilibrium analysis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    8. repec:ehl:lserod:65346 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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