Book Chapter

Respondentia: The alternative contract for global trade finance in the Early Modern period

  • Alejandra Irigoin

By specifying the specie on which returns were to be repaid respondentia was an efficient instrument to carry trade in which silver was «essential» for the continuation of commerce. As silver was imported as specie, where a multiplicity of means of payments existed and silver was the preferred money, it performed as foreign currency. Without common standards for foreign coins created issues for trade, the pricing of specie, and exchange rates. Eighteenth century Europeans alternatively used respondentia or bills depending on the monetary context, casting a doubt on the inherent efficiency of a cashless means of payment. Bills of exchange did not circulate outside Europe where cash had a premium. As the intermediary Europe developed means to regulate the price of foreign coins and exchange rates. Elsewhere respondentia had an advantage over bills; it allowed to hedge against uncertainty and propitiated arbitrage profits.

  • Keywords:
  • Respondentia,
  • Private trade finance,
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Alejandra Irigoin

LSE, London School of Economics, United Kingdom - ORCID: 0000-0001-5395-1537

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  • Publication Year: 2024
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  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
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  • Publication Year: 2024
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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Respondentia: The alternative contract for global trade finance in the Early Modern period

Authors

Alejandra Irigoin

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.30

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII / Alternative currencies. Commodities and services as exchange currencies in the monetarized economies of the 13th to 18th centuries

Editors

Angela Orlandi

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

592

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0346-3

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0347-0

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0348-7

Series Title

Datini Studies in Economic History

Series ISSN

2975-1241

Series E-ISSN

2975-1195

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