Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Creditworthiness and credit risks -- Between promise and peril : credit and debt at the pearl fisheries of South India and Sri Lanka, c. 1800 / Sam Ostroff -- Lenders and borrowers in a non-capitalist economy : Rio de Janeiro in the early nineteenth century /...

Competition in credit markets is different from competition in simple product markets. The allocation of capital is not only determined by its price, but banks actively decide to whom they will provide finance. In addition, the provision of credit is not a spot transaction, but extends over a...