A fine balance. Household finance and financial strategies of Antwerps households, 17th-18th century

Deneweth, Heidi

doi:10.18352/tseg.344

Tijdschrift Voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis/ the Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History

2011

DOI: 10.18352/tseg.344

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A fine balance. Household finance and financial strategies of Antwerps households, 17th-18th century

Heidi Deneweth¹

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“…Yet not much attention has been paid to the actual use of the instruments and frequency of the new techniques in handling them, or to their impact on the daily operations of merchants (Van der Wee 1993). Bills obligatory frequently show up in recent reconstructions of early modern portfolios – based either on inventories or taxed assets (Deneweth 2011; Ogilvie, Küpker and Maegraith 2012; Oldland 2010). This article will argue that the bill obligatory in sixteenth-century Antwerp developed into a convenient, multifunctional and versatile financial instrument.…”

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Tweaking financial instruments: bills obligatory in sixteenth-century Antwerp

Puttevils

2015

Financial History Review

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This article discusses the use of private promissory notes in the sixteenth-century commercial metropolis of Antwerp. Students of financial history tend to look for first instances of financial techniques and institutions such as bills of exchange, share trading, sovereign debt and banks. However, financial innovation can also be found in the piecemeal adaptation of an older, existing technique, institution or instrument as the result of changes in the market and of demands exerted by particular groups within that economy. The outcome of this process is determined by the structure of the economy in question, its institutional arrangements and the willingness of authorities to adapt the rules.

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Tweaking financial instruments: bills obligatory in sixteenth-century Antwerp

Puttevils

2015

Financial History Review

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“…Possibilities for studying the behaviour of ordinary households decrease the further one goes back in time. Whereas historians of the nineteenth century are able to build on detailed case studies, often based on the account books of householders (Morris 2005;Green et al 2009), historians of the pre-industrial economy either have to concentrate on the asset management of the very wealthy (Degryse 2006) or take recourse to problematic sources such as probate inventories (Deneweth 2011;Ogilvie et al 2012). Such studies yield valuable results, but since they provide only snapshots (the moment when the estate of a deceased is recorded), they tell us less about how households dealt with assets during their entire lifetime (McCants 2007, p. 221).…”

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Preferences of the poor: market participation and asset management of poor households in sixteenth-century Holland

Moor

Zuijderduijn

2013

European Review of Economic History

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Our article aims to detect differences in behaviour towards the capital and land market of households of different sizes and levels of income. Participation in markets for real estate, capital, and ships was considerable, not only among middling and elite groups but also among the poor. Large households were most active in markets, incurring significantly greater debt. Poor households with a low supply of labour were relatively active, purchasing houses and ships, and incurring debts, possibly in order to cope with a lack of parental support. Middling-group households with a low supply of labour primarily sold houses and invested in the capital market, adjusting capital assets to declining labour supply at the end of their life cycle, thus creating cash rents to be able to survive old age. 1Over the past few years, several historians have advanced theories as to how the behaviour of ordinary households altered the course of economic history. De Vries (2008) claims that labour market participation increased because household members had to earn to be able to purchase new luxury products; hitherto, idle hands were put to work. Howell (2010) points to a change in household members' perception of property. Initially, they deemed property to be inalienable, but this changed during the late Middle Ages, allowing property to change hands more easily. De Moor and van Zanden (2010) suggest that the rise of a new marriage pattern had consequences for both labour market participation and the saving behaviour of household members at all levels of society. What these studies share is the conviction that a change in the preferences of ordinary people was crucial for macro-economic developments.The idea that over time something changed in the preferences and behaviour of ordinary people is not new, but it remains an important question. There is a large historiography that ascribes a "peasant mentality" to rural populations and uses this to explain the underdevelopment of regions. In this literature, peasant mentality includes a great many elements, including a strong preference for subsistence production and risk-averseness (cf. Ogilvie 2001 for a survey of this literature) that may be summarized as "unenterprising." It follows that its antonym, the "non-peasant mentality" so to speak, may be characterized as "enterprising." Its emergence is usually linked to the transition to early forms of capitalism. 1To study whether this shift in mentality and behaviour indeed occurred over time, and if so, when, is not an easy task. It requires historians to infer in some way the preferences of 1 Emigh (2004) provides an overview of literature on the transition to capitalism.

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A fine balance. Household finance and financial strategies of Antwerps households, 17th-18th century

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 2 publications

References 1 publication

Tweaking financial instruments: bills obligatory in sixteenth-century Antwerp

Tweaking financial instruments: bills obligatory in sixteenth-century Antwerp

Preferences of the poor: market participation and asset management of poor households in sixteenth-century Holland

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