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Doctoral Thesis
2016
Trade and political institutions in late medieval European cities : origins and long-run consequences
Trade and political institutions in late medieval European cities : origins and long-run consequences
Abstract (English)
The first part of the thesis establishes a link between medieval trade, agglomeration and contemporary regional development in ten European countries. It documents a significant positive relationship between involvement in medieval trade and regional economic development today. The analysis indicates that a long-lasting effect of medieval trade on contemporary regional development is transmitted via its effect on agglomeration and industry concentration. Further empirical analyses show that medieval trade positively influenced city development both during the medieval period and in the long run; they also reveal a robust connection between medieval city growth and contemporary regional agglomeration and industry concentration. This research highlights the long-run importance of medieval trade in shaping the development of cities as well as the contemporary spatial distribution of economic activity throughout Europe.
Next, a new city-level data set on political institutions in pre-modern Europe is introduced. It comprises of three variables reporting the prevalence of the different existing types of participative political institutions between 800 and 1800 AD in 104 cities in the Holy Roman Empire. According to historical studies, the three included measures (guild participation in the city council, participative election procedures and the existence of institutionalized burgher representation) represent the universe of political institutions in cities in this era.
Based on this data, the next chapter of the thesis investigates the origins of guild revolts and participation in the government of late medieval central European cities. It finds that structural factors, i.e. the prosperity of proto-industry and exogenous events like the agricultural crisis were factors triggering the revolts. Medieval trade cities had a lower probability of guild participation indicating that not economic prosperity per se is decisive but rather that formerly poor groups of citizens like craftsmen profited from the economic upswing. The study also finds evidence for the existence of spatial spillovers implying that strategic considerations played a role in the spread of the revolts.
Finally, I investigate the effect of the rise of participative political institutions in late medieval central European cities on city development. The results show, that the enlargement of political participation is not always conducive to city development. The participation of guilds in the city council, for example had an overall neutral or negative effect. Furthermore, the effect of guild participation is declining over time, implying that this form of PPI is prone to institutional degeneration and increased rent-seeking. Election of city government by the citizens, in contrast, shows a stable and robustly positive effect on city development. Hence, the decisive point for more political participation being conducive for economic development is that the increase in participation is accompanied by increased accountability of the politicians and a politics that is oriented toward public welfare than the special interests of particular groups.
Abstract (German)
Der erste Teil der Arbeit zeigt, dass mittelalterlicher Handel durch seinen positiven Einfluss auf Agglomeration und Industriekonzentrationsmuster in 10 Mitteleuropäischen Ländern einen persistenten Einfluss auf die regionale wirtschaftliche Entwicklung hatte. Dies bedeutet, dass mittelalterliche Handelsstädte auch heute noch reicher und größer sind als nicht-Handelsstädte.
Kapitel 3 führt einen neuen Datensatz zu den politischen Institutionen in 104 Städten des Heiligen Römischen Reiches (HRR) ein.
Kapitel 4 beleuchtet empirisch, basierend auf der historischen Debatte, die Ursachen der spätmittelalterlichen Zunftaufstände in den Städten des HRR. Es zeigt sich, dass vor allem in den Zentren der Proto-Industrie solche Revolten auftraten, allerdings spielte auch die spätmittelalterliche Agrarkrise und die Pest eine Rolle. Letztere Ereignisse führten zu einer Landflucht, welche zu Konflikten innerhalb der Städte führte.
Kapitel 5 beschäftigt sich mit den Auswirkungen der unterschiedlichen politischen Institutionen in den Städten auf das langfristige Stadtwachstum. Es stellt sich heraus, dass Städte mit partizipativeren Institutionen sich nicht per se besser entwickelt haben. Die Beteiligung der Zünfte am Stadtregiment hatte beispielsweise nur sehr kurzfristig einen positiven Effekt, langrfristig war der Effekt der Zunftbeteiligung insignifikant oder sogar negativ, was einen Rückschluss auf etwaige Prozesse institutioneller Sklerose erlaubt. Die Einführung von Wahlen des Stadtrats bzw. des Bürgermeisters durch Teile der Bürgerschaft allerdings, hatte sehr wohl langfristige positive Effekte. Dies zeigt, dass es vor allem checks-and-balances und nicht so sehr die Ausweitung der politischen Partizipation per se gewesen ist, welche entscheidend war.
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Faculty
Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Institute
Institute of Economics
Examination date
2016-03-22
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Language
English
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Classification (DDC)
330 Economics
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BibTeX
@phdthesis{Wahl2016,
url = {https://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/6003},
author = {Wahl, Fabian},
title = {Trade and political institutions in late medieval European cities : origins and long-run consequences},
year = {2016},
school = {Universität Hohenheim},
}