Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 September 2001
We analyse a newly constructed data set of monthly prices for wheat and rye in Nuremberg (1490–1855) to address the issue whether models of rational investment behaviour provide an adequate description of grain markets and grain storage in early modern Europe. Based on the empirical evidence presented here we conclude that the case for well functioning arbitrage in the market for grain in Nuremberg is quite weak. This can only partly be explained by the institutional background.