Arbitrage, communication, and market integration at the time of Datini

Ling-Fan Li

European Review of Economic History, 2017, vol. 21, issue 4, 414-433

Abstract: Based on the exchange rates collected from Datini's correspondence, this article demonstrates that a high degree of financial market integration, in terms of communication, had been achieved by the end of the fourteenth century. The speed of exchange rate adjustment and transaction costs were greatly influenced by the distance between markets and the extra time incurred to complete arbitrage. Though resulting in higher transaction costs, government intervention in exchange dealings led to more effective arbitrage because more information relating to exchange movement was transmitted between merchants more quickly.

Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:21:y:2017:i:4:p:414-433.

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