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Chapter 10

Commercial Finance in Europe, 1700–1815

C. Jobst^* and P. Nogues-Marco^†

^*CEPR, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Vienna, Austria

^†CEPR, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Outline

Introduction

The Instrument: Bills of Exchange

What Is a Bill of Exchange?

Usury Regulation and ‘True’ Interest Rates

Bullion Versus Bills

City-Currencies

Mapping Commercial Finance

Quotes as Evidence for Liquidity in the Underlying Market

Determinants of Liquidity

Networks of Financial Financing

The geographical reach of European finance

Hierarchies, distance, and groups

Some tentative hypotheses

The Cost of Commercial Finance: Searching for Interest Rate

The Absence of Direct Evidence on Interest Rates

Shadow Interest Rates Based on Bills ...

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