(Mal-)practices of Auctioneering on the English Property Market During the 19th Century

Fasold Stephan ()
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Fasold Stephan: Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft, Philosophie und Theologie, Universitätsstraße 25, D-33615 Bielefeld Germany

Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook, 2022, vol. 63, issue 1, 55-81

Abstract: In the 19th century, auctions became a widespread form of transaction for real estate in England. Contemporaries viewed auctioning as an effective method for the transaction of land, in terms of price determination and transparency. Contrary to these theoretical assumptions, the article shows that in practice it was not economic efficiency but group interests that played a decisive role in the establishment of the auction mechanism. The article provides an analysis of the formal and informal rules of the auction trade for real estate and argues that 19th century real estate auctions did not always lead to optimal results in terms of valuation and allocation because power structures played a greater role in them than auction theory assumes.

Keywords: Auctions; England; 19th century; market institutions; real estate market; auction theory; Auktionen; England; 19. Jahrhundert; Marktinstitutionen; Immobilienmarkt; Auktionstheorie (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D R (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:jbwige:v:63:y:2022:i:1:p:55-81:n:1

DOI: 10.1515/jbwg-2022-0003

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