Market integration in the Ottoman Balkans and the Middle East from the sixteenth century until the First World War

Abstract

Using a large body of mostly archival price data, this study examines wheat market integration across the Ottoman Empire and puts it in the context of broader European trends. We find that rates of Ottoman market integration fluctuated without a clear trend during the early modern era followed by greater international integration and geographically uneven domestic integration in the nineteenth century. Overall, Ottoman gains were slower than those in western Europe in both periods. Our regression analysis points to the role of geography and technological and institutional changes including changes in state capacity as the main determinants shaping integration patterns.