Paying transaction costs

Guillaume Daudin (1)

1 OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po)

This paper tries to understand the adoption of different organisational forms by trade intermediaries. It does that by exploring their options in a coherent economic framework emphasizing the importance of paying transaction costs. It is based both on my knowledge of 18th century French traders and some insights from more contemporaneous situations. In the first part, the paper analyses the static activity of traders and the tools at their disposal. In the second part, it studies the alternative they had to dynamically improve their situation.

Mots clés: Transaction costs; Domestic trade; 18th-century France; Commerce intérieur; 18ème siècle Français

Domaines: Economies et finances

Guillaume Daudin. Paying transaction costs. 2006. ⟨hal-01065638⟩