Money and its institutional substitutes: the role of exchange institutions in human cooperation

What is it about?

The question of the origin of money is divided into those who favor a theoretical approach with little applicability to the history, and those who favor a rich history but lack the theoretical tools to interpret it effectively. This paper bridges the gap by walking through various historical exchange institutions, both monetary and premonetary, and showing how they solve more or less effectively the incentive and accounting problems that stand in the way of human cooperation and exchange.

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