| Abstract [eng] |
Accumulation of surplus wealth intended to generate income, i.e. capital, in the way it is understood in this research, enables us to understand better how the daily economic activities were organized. It can help to comprehend better how the money was accumulated by the different groups of people, the way it was saved and used, how it was transferred and what substitutes were in place, how rational was its management. The research focuses on the capital accumulation and management practices of four socio-economic groups in the city of Vilnius during the period of the analysis from the middle of the 17th c. to the end of the 18th c.: city citizens, Conventual Franciscans, Vilnius Jews and their communal body kahal, the Radziwiłł family and their economic undertakings in the city. The study has found out that there was no systematically functioning capital market in Vilnius in the 17-18th c. as the activities related to capital accumulation, management and distribution were rather loose, sporadic and noncontinuous. Relationships in the capital market were personal and credit market was dominated by consumer lending, where the majority of loans were used far more for the consumer needs than investment. Most of the transactions throughout the period of our analysis were conducted in coins, there was no practice to deposit money through accounts, there was no double-entry book-keeping, there were no banks neither in Vilnius, nor in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. While wealth and capital management practices of the analysed socio-economic groups in Vilnius were mostly rational, a common feature was their constant indebtedness and neglect of savings. |
