1st Edition

Merchants in Global Economic History Intermediation, Information, Trust, and Exchange

By Toshiaki Tamaki Copyright 2027
234 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

234 Pages 9 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In this book, Toshiaki Tamaki analyses merchant and entrepreneurial activity from ancient times to the twenty-first century, arguing that these intermediaries drive global market expansion and institutional development, as they help to connect distant regions and reduce information asymmetry. The book begins by framing global economic history through the lens of Homo mobilis (the mobile... Read more

Introduction: What are the Reasons for Economic Growth? 1. Origins of Commerce and Markets 2. Integrating Eurasia: Islam, the Mongol Empire and the Economic Rise of Song–Yuan China 3. Trade and European External Expansion 4. Four-Continent Chains: The Maritime Revolution of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries 5. Printing, Price Currents and the Industrious Revolution 6. Family Firms and Institutional Foundations: A Comparative Perspective on Sephardic, Armenian and Japanese Merchants 7. From the Netherlands to Britain: Hegemonic Transition 8. Commission Capitalism and the Making of the Global Economy: Britain, Diasporic Merchants, and Asia, 1415–1914 9. Financialisation, Digital Platforms and the New Inequalities. Conclusion

Biography

Toshiaki Tamaki is Professor of Economic History at Kyoto Sangyo University, where he researches the institutional role of commission-based intermediaries in global trade from antiquity to the digital age.