Institutions of Hanseatic Trade: Studies on the Political Economy of a Medieval Network Organisation

Description

The merchants of the medieval Hanse monopolised trade in the Baltic and North Sea areas. The authors describe the structure of their trade system in terms of network organisation and attempts to explain, on the grounds of institutional economics, the coordination of the merchants’ commercial exchange by reputation, trust and culture. The institutional economics approach also allows for a comprehensive analysis of coordination problems arising between merchants, towns and the 'Kontore'. Due to the simplicity and flexibility of network trade the Hansards could bridge the huge gap in economic development between the West and the East. In the changing economic conditions around 1500, however, exactly these characteristics proved to be a serious limit to further retain their trade monopoly. Foreword 9 Chapter 1: Hanse History and Economics – a New Institutional Economics Perspective on Hanseatic Trade 11 Chapter 2: Reputation, Trust and Culture – the Network Structure of Hanseatic Trade and its Benefits 29 Chapter 3: A "Small World" – Reconstruction and Meaning of the Hansards' Social Networks 59 Chapter 4: Bridging Distances and Filling Gaps – Strategies to Handle Heterogeneous Commercial Environments 77 Chapter 5: State of Cities, Commercial Trust, or Virtual Organisation? – Structure and Coordination of the Hanse 99 Chapter 6: Competitive Advantage or Limit to Business? – Contingency and Path Dependence 123 Chapter 7: Perspectives of Research into Hanseatic Trade – the Impact of the Model of Network Organisation 147 Bibliography 159