The Evolution of Norms in Trade and Financial Networks in the First Global Age: the case of Simon Ruiz's network

In the 16th century, merchants and bankers gained a social influence and political relevance, due to their capacity of ‘faire travailler l’argent des autres’ (Benassar 1972:50). For the success of their activity, they built evolving networks with cooperative partners. These networks were much more than the sum of all partners. In the case study of the Castilian merchant Simon Ruiz, the network functioned in an unique way and independent from any formal institutional control. Its functioning varied in how different partners were associated and the particular characteristics and contents of these social ties. Being a self-organized network, since the formal institutions of trade regulation and the Crown control didn’t influence the network functioning, the Simon Ruiz network was deeply embedded in the economic and financial performance of the Hispanic Empires, in two different ways. The first, purely commercial. The monopolistic regime which was applied by the two crowns in the trade of certain colonial goods was insufficient to the costs of imperial maintenance. In such manner, particulars tried to rent a contract of exploration of trade, paying an annual sum to the crown, as in the Portuguese trade. Some of these agents also moved along Simon Ruiz’s network. But others were involved in relations with the imperial crowns on a second way, the finance. Maintaining Empires implied a lot of human, technical but also financial means, and most of the times Kings were forced to recur to these merchants, as we will demonstrate. What were the implications of these collaborative relations in both parts? The main goal of this paper is to comprehend the evolution of informal norms within Simon Ruiz’s network and how they influenced cooperative behavior of the agents, particularly analyzing mechanisms of sanctioning, control, punishment and reward, as well as their consequences in different dimensions: future interactions, social repercussions and in agent’s economic health and activity. The research is based in the bills of exchange and commercial correspondence of the private archive of Simon Ruiz, located in the Provincial Archive of Valladollid, Spain.

Autonomia das escolas: implicações e alterações na organização escolar

Este estudo teve como objectivo investigar o que mudou na organização escolar com o reforço da sua autonomia nomeadamente com a celebração dos contratos de autonomia. A investigação incidiu sobre quatro Escolas/Agrupamentos, duas com Contrato de Autonomia e outras duas sem Contrato de Autonomia. No estudo optou-se por utilizar como técnicas de recolha de dados a fonte estatística e o inquérito por entrevista, recorrendo para o efeito a entrevistas semi-estruturadas aos Presidentes dos Órgãos de Gestão das quatro Escolas/Agrupamentos envolvidos no estudo. Os dados estatísticos foram obtidos através da análise das pautas relativas ao 3° período dos anos lectivos 2006/2007 e 2007/2008, das quatro escolas/Agrupamentos envolvidos no estudo. Dos resultados obtidos nesta investigação destacamos a importância que os Presidente dos Órgãos de Gestão dão à necessidade de uma maior autonomia. Os Contratos de Autonomia potenciaram um conjunto de alterações na organização escolar levando ao aumento do sucesso escolar e da criação de uma forte identidade da escola com Contrato de Autonomia. Será importante que estudos posteriores analisem os resultados obtidos nas vinte e duas escolas que celebraram contratos de autonomia, os quais terminam no final do ano lectivo 2010/2011, sendo certo que dos resultados desta investigação ressaltaram as vantagens de cada Escola/Agrupamento poder escolher o seu próprio caminho para atingir o sucesso escolar e social dos seus alunos. ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate what has changed in school organization as a result of the legal reinforcement of its power and autonomy and, in particular, due to the celebration of contracts of autonomy. The research focused on four establishments (Schools/School Groups), two of them already functioning under a contract of autonomy and the other two with no such contract. The techniques used in our investigation were the collection and treatment of statistical data and the interview survey, mainly the semi-structured interview type directed to the Presidents of the Governing Bodies of all the four establishments involved. At the end of the present investigation, it is clear to us all the advantages presented to an educational establishment which is able to choose its own path to achieve the academic success and the social development of its students. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that future studies duly analyse the results achieved by all the twenty-two school establishments which celebrated contracts of autonomy ending at the term of the academic year 2009/2010.