Thesis--Freiburg i. B. / Without thesis statement. Bibliography: p. [226]-228.

Texte remanié de: Th. Ph. D.--School of Oriental and African studies--University of London, 1989. / Bibliogr. p. 229-246. Index.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Abteilung für Geschichte und Kulturgeschichte--Florenz--Europäisches Hochschulinstitut, 1993. Titre de soutenance : Cameralism and court : the german dicourse on court economy in the 18th century. / Bibliogr. p. 305-355. Index.

Diss.--Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät--Erlangen-Nürnberg--Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, 1993. / Bibliogr. p. 254-279.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaft und Philosophie--Universität Bielefeld, 2001. / Bibliogr. p. 275-307. Index.

The discovery of America was followed by a flow of precious metals to Spain and Portugal, and from there throughout the world. Historiography has reconstructed the quantities of gold and silver transferred from the New World to the Old World in the Early Modern period, but what was the reason for the bullion outflows? This dissertation answers this question. In particular, it examines the logic of silver outflows from Cadiz to London in the first half of the 18th century.Castile enacted bullionist laws during more than four centuries, from the Late Middle Ages to mid-19th century. The laws fixed prices and placed bans on export. But these measures did not prevent the export of silver and instead caused a great deal of smuggling. This dissertation aims at understanding the logic of silver outflows focusing on the smugglers' point of view: arbitrage. In this regard, the archive of the merchant house Roux (Marseille), probably the best preserved 18th century commercial archive in Europe, has made possible the reconstruction of the specie-point mechanism for silver - the Old Mexican pieces of eight - between Cadiz and London as exactly practiced by contemporary merchants. The discovery of half-monthly data on silver black market in Cadiz for the period 1729-1741 has been a milestone in order to understand the logic of silver outflows.Empirical result from these data for arbitrage equation presents a puzzle for our understanding of the specie-point mechanism: from 1729 to 1737 there was a systematic bias between the implicit spot exchange rate and the arbitrated parity, which made arbitrage systematically profitable. On the contrary, from 1737 to 1741 the bias was corrected because the Spanish government reacted to illegal bullion outflows with a devaluation, which equalized the exchange rates and the arbitrated parity.This research explores both theoretically and empirically the reasons for the apparent mispricing for the first period and the effect of the devaluation on silver prices for the second period. The outcome is that bullionist regulations configured an oligopsony structure in Cadiz that had the power to drive down silver prices below the international price (i.e., London price). Oligopsony agents were the most important foreign merchants in Cadiz, organized in family and partnership networks which were rice-makers; their structure was maintained because the long-run international networks created entry barriers in the business of illegal export of bullion. Secrecy was reserved because both sides of the market cheated the Spanish government: importers from the Spanish American colonies saved the high import tax and exporters to the ain European bullion markets ignored the ban against exports.Nevertheless, oligopsony power had a floor, which was the Official Parity (i.e., the number of units of account per coin). Below the Official Parity, the pieces of eight were used as money and went out from the commodity market. The devaluation of 1737 should be understood as an increment of the Official Parity for eliminating oligopsony power.Some main lessons emerge from this dissertation. First, understanding the reasons of the specie flows in the Early Modern period demands comprehension of the specie-point mechanism. Second, the construction of the silver-points requires the location, collection and manipulation of the right data: market prices, exchange rates and costs of arbitrage. And third, the interpretation of the arbitrage results needs to focus on the special microeconomic features of the bullion market structure. This is an original approach which will provide a lot of insight into the workings of commodity money.The first chapter describes the Castilian stagnated legislation and immobile institutions established with the aim of avoiding bullion outflows: fixed prices and bans on export. The second chapter analyses the specie-point mechanism in the institutional setting of bullion controls: the case of silver Pieces of Eight between Cadiz and London during the period 1729-1741. Arbitrage equation shows a systematic bias between the spot exchange rate and the arbitrated parity corrected by the 1737 devaluation. The third chapter analyses the specie-point mechanism in the institutional setting of free bullion movement: the case of gold and silver bars between London and Amsterdam during the period 1734-1758. London-Amsterdam bullion market was integrated, and arbitrage equation shows only few and non persistent breaks. The fourth chapter tells the story of the agents involved in the illegal exchanges of silver in Cadiz, and demonstrates that the smugglers were the French merchants who obtained the highest income of all merchants in Cadiz. The fifth chapter examines the contemporary Castilian reports against smuggling in order to describe how the illegal exchange took place. Smuggling was reserved to foreign merchants because they had achieved privileges which prevented them to be prosecuted. The sixth chapter demonstrates that the smugglers were organized in long-run networks which conferred them the market power to drive down bullion prices below the international price, and the international connections to illegally extract and distribute the bullion from Cadiz. The seventh chapter develops a static model of partial equilibrium for commodity-money in order to understand the workings of the oligopsonistic silver-commodity market and the effect of devaluation on the bullionist goal of treasuring silver. We will end offering some conclusions. Appendices explain the construction of the specie-point mechanism.

Thesis--Marburg. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. xi-xxxviii).

Thesis--Columbia, 1930. / Reprint of the 1930 ed. published by the author, New York. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-190) and index.

En prenant comme point d'horizon l'entrée du concept de travail mécanique dans la physique théorique par les ingénieurs-savants du début de 19e siècle (Coriolis et Navier notamment), cette thèse montre la filiation de ce concept vis-à-vis de démarches apparaissant à l'aube du 18e siècle à l'Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris, notamment dans les oeuvres d'Amontons et de Parent. La thèse montre alors comment et pourquoi le concept commence à se développer au premier 18e siècle dans cet environnement, comment il est ensuite repris, enrichi, modifié par Pitot, Bélidor, Desaguliers, D. Bernoulli, et comment au contraire ce concept semble ignoré de savants plus théoriciens tel que D'Alembert. Le rôle de la rupture de la vision statique de la machine semble déterminant. Apparaît alors la forte dépendance de ce concept aux problématiques qu'il permet de résoudre, axées sur la quantification et l'optimisation de l'effet des hommes, des animaux et des machines en situation laborieuse, et leurs comparaisons mutuelles dont l'une des finalités est la recherche du profit économique. L'histoire du concept se donne à voir comme une interface permanente entre mécanique théorique, mécanique pratique, et aspects productifs. On suggère alors que la légitimité du concept tient dans sa pertinence à rendre compte du travail des agents producteurs. Enfin, la thèse s'attache à recréer l'épaisseur du réel derrière les concepts et les problématiques, en montrant ce qu'ils doivent aux stratégies gouvernementales et aux pratiques d'ingénieurs.

En prenant comme point d’horizon l’entrée du concept de travail mécanique dans la physique théorique par les ingénieurs-savants du début de 19e siècle (Coriolis et Navier notamment), cette thèse montre la filiation de ce concept vis-à-vis de démarches apparaissant à l’aube du 18e siècle à l’Académie Royale des Sciences de Paris, notamment dans les oeuvres d’Amontons et de Parent. La thèse montre alors comment et pourquoi le concept commence à se développer au premier 18e siècle dans cet environnement, comment il est ensuite repris, enrichi, modifié par Pitot, Bélidor, Desaguliers, D. Bernoulli, et comment au contraire ce concept semble ignoré de savants plus théoriciens tel que D’Alembert. Le rôle de la rupture de la vision statique de la machine semble déterminant. Apparaît alors la forte dépendance de ce concept aux problématiques qu’il permet de résoudre, axées sur la quantification et l’optimisation de l’effet des hommes, des animaux et des machines en situation laborieuse, et leurs comparaisons mutuelles dont l’une des finalités est la recherche du profit économique. L’histoire du concept se donne à voir comme une interface permanente entre mécanique théorique, mécanique pratique, et aspects productifs. On suggère alors que la légitimité du concept tient dans sa pertinence à rendre compte du travail des agents producteurs. Enfin, la thèse s’attache à recréer l’épaisseur du réel derrière les concepts et les problématiques, en montrant ce qu’ils doivent aux stratégies gouvernementales et aux pratiques d’ingénieurs. / Taking the early 19th century concept of mechanical work in theoretical physics (popular among such engineers as Coriolis and Navier) as the point of reference, this essay draws a connection between this concept and similar reasoning occurring at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris at the turn of the 18th century, especially evident in the works of Amontons and Parent. The essay then demonstrates how and why this concept begins to develop in this academic environment, and how it is then adopted, enhanced and modified by Pitot Bélidor, Désaguliers, and D. Bernoulli while seemingly ignored by theorists such as D’Alembert. The role of the breakdown of the conceptualisation of machines as static agents seems decisive. What follows is a strong dependence on the concept of mechanical work for its ability to problem solve and in pursuit of economic gain, particularly as pertains to quantification, optimization and the comparative labour productivity of men, animals and machines. The concept’s history suggests a permanent interplay between theoretical mechanics, practical mechanics and productivity, thus indicating that the legitimacy of the concept lies in its ability to represent the work of producing agents. Finally, the essay attempts to recreate in practical terms the reality behind the concepts and problems, showing what they owe to government strategies and what to the practices of engineers.