It is the aim of this paper to analyse the importance of (double-entry) bookkeeping for the economic development in Europe and its possible indirect influence on economic growth. Being one of the most important commercial techniques of the European merchants double-entry bookkeeping stayed in close relationship to the expansion of trade. So, the distribution of different bookkeeping techniques all over Western and Central Europe, took place, on one hand, through the extensive commercial contacts of Italian merchant-bankers with merchants of regions north of the Alps and because of the need of many non-Italian merchants to consolidate their commercial knowledge in Italy through specific studies and/or through acquiring practical knowledge. On the other, treaties on (double-entry) bookkeeping supported its diffusion. The study analyses examples of ledgers as ‘mirrors’ of their enterprises’ activities, and it will be shown how such ledgers served as instruments for reducing various risks of entrepreneurial engagement. As a result it will become clear that the knowledge of the technique of double-entry bookkeeping was one of the preconditions of the commercial and, later on, the industrial expansion of the Europeans, which made a significant difference to other merchant cultures in the world.
Leipzig University, Germany
Chapter Title
Bookkeeping as a ‘key technology’ of pre-modern commerce. Its relevance for the eco-nomic development in Europe
Authors
Markus A. Denzel
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0092-9.14
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
L’economia della conoscenza: innovazione, produttività e crescita economica nei secoli XIII-XVIII / The knowledge economy: innovation, productivity and economic growth, 13th to 18th century
Editors
Giampiero Nigro
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
456
Publication Year
2023
Copyright Information
© 2023 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0092-9
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0091-2
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0092-9
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195