The Rationality of Early Modern Merchant Bookkeeping: a Quantitative Approach

We offer a way to test to what extent double-entry book-keeping is the vector of rationalization of merchant activity that was described by Weber, and explore alternative possible motivations. We move the focus away from the structure and theory of accounts into the daily practice of the agents themselves. We use the new, unique database of eighteenth-century merchant accounts developed in France by the MARPROF project. 28 months worth of accounts digitized from three different account books, two from France and one from North America, dating back to the 1750s, 1770s and 1780s yielded no less than 7,555 postings. We show that while indeed showing a discernible rationality in their choices, Early Modern merchants thought more in terms of key relationships and less in terms of key products, and kept track of their profits continuously within their activities rather than as part of a final balance sheet. JEL Code: M41, N83