Merchants in Global Economic History

Intermediation, Information, Trust, and Exchange
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-28701-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 234 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 507 g

Reihe: Routledge Explorations in Economic History

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 human) and Homo faber (the fabricating human). It argues that global trade cannot be understood fully without considering how merchants help markets expand through the transmission of information, trust, reputation and commercial knowledge. The book then contextualises this argument through a global survey of trading empires, exploring how merchants and intermediaries profit not through ownership of goods but through the act of exchange. This long-term narrative spans from Mesopotamian traders to Phoenician seafarers to Asian shipping agents and even the global logistics giants of today. Through this survey, readers gain a deeper understanding of how information, trust and circulation – not just production – have shaped the global economy.

Offering a compelling alternative to static economic models and supply-side theories, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of global history, economic history and the history of capitalism.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tamaki, Toshiaki

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Wirtschaftstheorie, Wirtschaftsphilosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über Autor(innen)

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.