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Completing a Financial Revolution: The Finance of the Dutch East India Trade and the Rise of the Amsterdam Capital Market, 1595–1612

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2004

OSCAR GELDERBLOM  and
JOOST JONKER
OSCAR GELDERBLOM
Affiliation:
post-doc fellow, Department of History, Utrecht University, and International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam). E-mail: Oscar.gelderblom@let.uu.nl
JOOST JONKER
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of History, Utrecht University, Kromme Nieuwgracht 66, 3512 HL Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: Joost.jonker@let.uu.nl
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Abstract

The article analyzes the evolution of the Amsterdam capital market as a consequence of Dutch overseas expansion and the introduction of transferable VOC shares. Offering investors prospects of speculative gains without serious loss of liquidity, these instruments created a booming secondary market offering a wide range of allied credit techniques. By 1609 this market had become sufficiently strong to dictate terms for new public debt issues. These findings show that, contrary to commonly held notions about the emergence of secondary markets, private finance took precedence over public finance in the Dutch Republic.

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ARTICLES
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 641 - 672
Copyright
© 2004 The Economic History Association

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