Rehabilitating the intermediary: brokers and auctioneers in the nineteenth-century Anglo-Indian trade
研究19世纪英印贸易中经纪人和拍卖商的作用，发现中间人数量翻两番使靛蓝价格波动减半，他们通过减少信息不对称显著改善市场协调。
The complications of long-distance trade restricted the expansion of the Anglo-Indian trade in the first half of the nineteenth century. The take-off occurred after 1850, and can be correlated to the growing number of brokers and auctioneers. This article analyses the role and effects of these intermediaries, drawing on information economics theory. A new data-set shows that volatility in supply, demand and price of indigo was reduced by half as the number of intermediaries quadrupled. Analysis shows that they were uniquely placed to reduce information asymmetries significantly improving market co-ordination. These findings positively reassess the importance of these organisations and have implications for understanding the evolution of long-distance trade in the nineteenth century.