Uncovering Private Credit Markets: Amsterdam, 1660-1809

Abstract

1Credit markets contribute to economic development when they allocate capital through secure and enforceable contracts. Surprisingly little is known, however, about what these markets looked like and how they functioned in the Dutch Republic. By analysing three archival collections from Amsterdam this article attempts to fill this lacuna. It documents a large and developed non-intermediated credit market that relied on standardised loan forms. These forms were cast in the correct legal terms, could be purchased across the city, and cost little. Where people's own networks did not suffice to mobilise funds, moreover, brokers stood ready to link demand and supply.This shows that pre-industrial societies could successfully mobilise large amounts of credit even where banks were absent. kakaka １1 The authors would like to thank Michael Milo for his help with the married couples form, Yannick

Historical Diversity in Credit Intermediation: Cosignatory Lending Institutions in Europe and North America, 1700s–1960s

“…Such collateralization of assets offsets the risk of default because it permits the lender to seize and sell the asset (Cerqueiro et al 2016). Precisely for that reason, peer-to-peer and pawnshop lending have relied on collateral for centuries ( Van Bochove and Kole 2014;Gelderblom and Jonker 2004;Maassen 1994;Tebbutt 1983;Woloson 2007Woloson , 2009. The drawback of loan collateralization, though, is that small-scale borrowers often lack sufficient assets to offset the credit risk or cannot do without such assets (e.g.…”

“…Financial inclusion initiatives set out to address these funding gaps and aim to bolster economic growth by providing small businesses and households universal access to credit as well as a wide range of other useful and affordable financial services (UNSGSA 2021). While inclusive financeof which microcredit is an important partis a relatively novel concept, municipal pawnshops (Calder 2001;Carboni and Fornasari 2020;Maassen 1994;McCants 2007;Tebbutt 1983;Woloson 2007Woloson , 2009, cadastral systems ( Van Bochove et al 2015), preprinted loan contracts ( Van Bochove and Kole 2014), and specialized intermediaries (Hoffman et al 2000(Hoffman et al , 2019; Van Bochove and Van Velzen 2014;Verwaaij and Van Bochove 2019) already made credit markets more inclusive during medieval and early modern times. As a consequence, sizeable and developed credit markets existed in the towns and countrysides of Europe and North America (Briggs and Zuijderduijn 2018;Dermineur 2018;Middleton 2012;Ogilvie et al 2012;Schofield and Lambrecht 2009;Vickers 2010).…”

Public Functions, Private Markets: Credit Registration by Aldermen and Notaries in the Low Countries, 1500–1800

“…When public notaries were first admitted as drafters of private contracts in the sixteenth century, cities already offered registration facilities for contracts such as annuities, mortgages, or debts arising from market or fair transactions (Soly 1974;Dambruyne 1988;Zuijderduijn 2009;Cappon 2005;Nève 2005). Moreover, local governments increasingly accepted business ledgers and privately written contracts as conclusive proof in court cases, which may have reduced the benefits of public registration (Gelderblom 2013;Van Bochove and Kole 2014).…”

Credit without banks: the Amsterdam water bailiff's ledger of 1856

“…This did not mean, though, that credit markets and financial intermediation for ordinary people were absent or underdeveloped. In the footsteps of Muldrew, for instance, it has now been well established that people could accomplish quite a lot themselves (Muldrew 1998; Finn 2003; Ogilvie, Kükpker and Maegraith 2012; Fontaine 2014; Van Bochove and Kole 2014). Inspired by the work of Hoffman, Postel-Vinay and Rosenthal, it has likewise become clear that alternative intermediaries were available when necessary (Hoffman, Postel-Vinay and Rosenthal 2000; Levy 2012; Van Bochove and Van Velzen 2014).…”

“…A further disadvantage of notarial deeds is that they only provide information about new loans granted to relatively well-to-do members of society. Probate inventories and insolvency records, on the other hand, do provide insight into the modest loans of ordinary people, but only haphazardly and not for the overall stock of loans (Willems 2009; Van Bochove and Kole 2014). It consequently remains unclear how large the non-bank credit markets for ordinary people actually were.…”