Publications

The International Center For Finance at the Yale School of Management provides active support for research in Financial Economics by its fellows and disseminates their work to the world's academic and professional communities. Please see papers below for the latest research at the International Center for Finance.

This series, edited by Geert Rouwenhorst and Will Goetzmann, along with several ICF fellows Howard Bodenhorn and Eugene White, raises the broad awareness of the importance of history in the consideration of current economy.

The Origins of Corporations The Mills of Toulouse in the Middle Ages

Germain Sicard proves that Europe’s first corporations were fourteenth-century mill companies operating in Toulouse, rather than seventeenth-century English and Dutch trading companies as commonly believed. He shows that the corporate form derives from a unique ownership contract from Medieval Europe called pariage, and a culture of strong property rights and municipal self-governance. Based on archival research, Sicard’s 1952 thesis has been translated into English with an introduction that places the work in the context of new institutional economics and legal theory. It is an important contribution to research on the history and legal origins of the corporation.

The Great Mirror of Folly, Finance, Culture, and the Stock Market Crash of 1720

The world’s first global stock market bubble suddenly burst in 1720, destroying the dreams and fortunes of speculators in London, Paris, and Amsterdam virtually overnight. The co-editors are Geert Rouwenhorst, Will Goetzmann, Catherine Labio, Associate Professor of English at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Tim Young, Associate Curator of Modern Books & Manuscripts at the Beinecke Library.

The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets

From the invention of interest in Mesopotamia and the origin of paper money in China, to the creation of mutual funds, inflation-indexed bonds, and global financial securities, here is a sweeping survey of financial innovations that have changed the world. Written by a distinguished group of experts--including Robert Shiller, Niall Ferguson, Valerie Hansen, and many others--and wonderfully illustrated with over one hundred color photographs of landmark financial documents (including the first paper money), The Origins of Value traces the evolution of finance through 4,000 years of history.

The Origins of Value: The Financial Innovations that Created Modern Capital Markets (Chinese version)