Palmyrene merchant networks and economic integration in competitive markets
Résumé
This paper proposes to use economic thinking to understand the motivations and reasons behind the development of the Palmyrenes’ extensive commercial networks. As opposed to macro-economics, micro-economics refer to the study of economic behaviors of individual units; here two different forms of merging will be studied while examining the patterns of Palmyrene merchant activities: vertical and horizontal integration. For this purpose, the paper will review parts of the corpus of epigraphic evidence available in order to explain economic advantages and strategies behind the creation or use of social networks.