Assessing the Social Significance of the Circulation of Interpersonal Credit in Renaissance Florence

• In Event: 355 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Economic Sociology Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Networks of Credit and Trust

Abstract

We analyze a network dataset of 3590 interpersonal credits in Renaissance Florence to determine how Florentine lending was socially structured. We begin by exploring various micromotivations to offer credit-—both economic and moral/social—-using documentary evidence. We then assess the extent of participation by people from different categories, such as neighborhoods, social statuses, and guilds, and we determine whether credits flowed primarily within or between such groupings. We observe homophily within families and neighborhoods, but also extensive participation by the most commercially and politically active Florentines. These elites formed a strong component within which interpersonal credit circulated. The overall connectivity of this personal credit network echoes the social structure of other Florentine networks, such as marriage and business, suggesting that however much interpersonal credits served the economic goal of increasing liquidity, they also provided an opportunity for Florentines to express social commitments, and in particular they served as a domain in which elite membership was confirmed and elite social solidarity achieved.

Authors

• Paul D. McLean, State University of New Jersey-Rutgers

• Neha Gondal, The Ohio State University