Law and Commerce in Pre-Industrial Societies

Description

Well before states, literacy, or legal systems, there were commerce and trade, which are found in all societies irrespective of politics, social norms or ideologies. Athenian landowners, Roman senators and Qing mandarins screened their participation in commerce and trade. Legal and informal institutions were developed to secure persons and property, resolve commercial disputes, raise capital and share risk, promote fair dealing, regulate agents and gather market information.Law and Commerce in Pre-Industrial Societiesexamines commerce, its participants and these institutions through the lens of nine pre-industrial societies: Hunter/gatherers, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Athens, Rome, the early Islamic world, medieval Europe, medieval Southern India and Qing China. The book provides historical perspective to contemporary debates about the relationship between commerce and law, public ordering versus privately created systems of law, the rule of law and the relative merits of courts versus merchant networks to resolve disputes. Law and Commerce in Pre-Industrial Societies......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 11 1: Commerce, Law and Evidence......Page 13 1 Evidence of Commerce and Law......Page 20 1.1 Hunters, Gatherers and Pre-Literate Farmers......Page 26 1.2 Mesopotamia (3000–1600 BC)......Page 38 1.3 Ancient Egypt (3000–1069 BC)......Page 58 1.4 Classical Athens (480–330 BC)......Page 75 1.5 Roman Republic and Empire (100 BC–200 AD)......Page 80 1.6 Early Islamic World (750–1100 AD)......Page 87 1.7 European Commercial Revolution (1000–1500 AD)......Page 95 1.8 Medieval Southern India (850–1500 AD)......Page 99 1.9 Early Qing China (1644–1800 AD)......Page 109 2 Primacy of Commerce and Trade......Page 121 3 Homo Economicus and Economic Analysis......Page 127 3: Security of Persons and Property......Page 130 1.1 General Security Institutions......Page 131 1.2 Local Security for Resident or Itinerant Foreign Merchants......Page 134 2.2 Silent Trade......Page 138 2.4 Merchant Networks and Private Armies (Private Ordering)......Page 140 2.5 Treaties and Commercial Agreements......Page 141 2.6 Public Order......Page 142 3 Security from State Invasions of Property......Page 143 4 Concluding Remarks and Questions......Page 145 4: Dispute Resolution......Page 146 1.1 Hunter/Gatherers and pre-literate farmers– Rules, Enforcement and Sanctions Whether “Law” or “Social Norms”......Page 147 1.2 Mesopotamia – Innovative Law and Expansive Commerce and Trade......Page 150 1.3 Egypt – Law in a Politically Centralized and Economically Dominant State......Page 151 1.5 Rome – Law Supporting Commerce in an Empire......Page 153 1.6 Early Islamic World – Law Based on Religious Community......Page 156 1.7 Medieval Europe – Commercial and Legal Revolutions......Page 159 1.8 Medieval Southern India – Law Based on Caste or Occupation......Page 160 1.9 Qing China – Imperial Administrative Law and Private Contract Rules......Page 163 2 Dispute Avoidance Institutions......Page 164 3 Mediation and Arbitration......Page 166 3.1 Public Mediation and Arbitration......Page 167 3.2 Private Mediation and Arbitration......Page 169 5 Dispute Resolution by Popular Assemblies and Executive Bodies......Page 172 6.1 Independence and Appellate Review......Page 175 6.2 Political Structure and Courts......Page 179 6.3 Community-Based Legal Systems (Islamic and Hindu Law)......Page 181 6.4 Demands for Speedy, Impartial and Experienced Dispute Resolution......Page 185 7 Informal Dispute Resolution......Page 191 8 Remedies and Community Responsibility......Page 198 9.1 Substantive Legal Rules......Page 201 9.2 Legal Recognition of Business, Commercial and Financial Innovations......Page 206 9.3 Uniform Substantive Rules and “Law(s) Merchant” – The Loch Ness of Legal History......Page 211 5: Business Organizations: Families, Partnerships and Companies......Page 218 1.1 Personal Relationships and Family Business......Page 219 1.2 Family Networks......Page 226 1.3 Multigenerational Business......Page 227 1.4 Family versus the Individual......Page 230 2.1 Modern Forms of Business Organization and Corporate Law Default Rules......Page 232 2.2 Partnerships for Single Projects......Page 234 2.3 Business Organizations to Pool Capital and Share Risk beyond Single Projects......Page 240 2.4 Forms of Organization to Partition Assets......Page 262 3 Accounting, Credit and Financial Institutions......Page 269 4 Conclusions......Page 273 6: Consumer Protection, Competition, Fair Prices and Agency/Information Institutions......Page 275 1.1 Ubiquity of Local Markets......Page 276 1.2 Fair Dealing and Consumer Protection......Page 277 2.1 Critical Importance of Grain......Page 282 2.2 Competition Laws......Page 287 3 “Unfair Prices”......Page 293 4 Institutions to Meet Agency Concerns......Page 295 5 Institutions to Provide Market Information......Page 299 Bibliography......Page 303 Index......Page 339