Commerce, Cities, and Princes: The Institutional Tradition and the Premodern Low Countries

ABSTRACT

This article evaluates the application of New Institutional Economics (NIE) to history (the institutional tradition), focusing on its main theoretical contributions and criticisms. It examines the pitfalls of the institutional tradition and looks at the recent historiography of the commercial history of the premodern Low Countries as a case study. This article highlights the insights made possible by the institutional tradition. It does so while also addressing the ongoing debate about the role of cities and princes in fostering the institutions that resulted from—or in—the region's commercial preponderance between c. 1250 and c. 1650. By doing so, it provides the reader with a critical perspective on the interplay between premodern history and a popular tradition of economics.