Factor Markets in Early Islamic Iraq, c. 600-1100 AD

This paper reconstructs the organization and development of factor markets in earlymedieval Iraq. It shows that from the late Sasanian period on, and accelerating in theearly Islamic period, there was a relatively unrestricted functioning of markets forgoods, labour, and capital. This stimulated market exchange, associated with growingmonetization of the economy, especially in the towns, but also in the countryside,even though coercion remained more pronounced there. We hypothesize that thesedevelopments brought economic dynamism but simultaneously increased inequalityand furthered the rise of new, powerful elite groups, causing the decline of the samemarkets.