Why Are Modern Bureaucracies Special? State Support to Private Firms in Early Eighteenth-Century France

The Bureau du Commerce allocated rights and rents to private entrepreneurs via a mix of hierarchical division of labor and peer-based collegial deliberation. This set-up reflected an attempt to maximize information and expertise, but also allowed for the recognition of private rights and social inte...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of economic history 2017-12, Vol.77 (4), p.1144-1176
Main Authors: Beuve, Jean, Brousseau, Eric, Sgard, Jérôme
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
18th century
Bureaucracy
Decision making
Division of labor
Economic development
Economic history
Economics and Finance
Entrepreneurs
Experts
Government aid
Humanities and Social Sciences
Mercantilism
Modernization
Rent-seeking
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Bureau du Commerce allocated rights and rents to private entrepreneurs via a mix of hierarchical division of labor and peer-based collegial deliberation. This set-up reflected an attempt to maximize information and expertise, but also allowed for the recognition of private rights and social interests. The final decisions of the Bureau (for or against each demand), and the qualitative arguments brought forward during the procedure, are robust predictors of eventual decisions. We see this result as an indication that impersonal, rational and informed decision-making could be obtained even within a patrimonialist, rent-seeking State.
ISSN:0022-0507
1471-6372
DOI:10.1017/S0022050717001061