The Price of Legal Institutions: TheBeratlıMerchants in the Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, European embassies in the Ottoman Empire started selling exemption licenses calledberats, which granted non-Muslim Ottomans tax exemptions and the option to use European law. I construct a novel price panel for British and French licenses based on primary sources. The evidence reveals that prices were significantly high and varied across countries. Agents acquired multipleberatsto enhance their legal options, which they exploited through strategic court switching. By the early 1800s,beratholders had driven other groups from European-Ottoman trade.