This project studies the causes and consequences of economic development in the ancient world. We focus on both market economic systems and non-market phenomena, such as ‘gift-exchange’, slavery or ‘rent extraction’. The social and political consequences of economic dynamics, such as social inequality, receive special attention, as do social organisations that interact with these dynamics, such as guilds (collegia) or other collectivities. A second focus is on monetary and financial systems. Here, we examine coins and other forms of money as well as financial services, such as credit provision or mediation. This comprehensive research programme aims to bridge the gap between highly technical source heuristics and analysis of legal, epigraphic, papyrological and numismatic data sources on the one hand, and theories and models from the social sciences on the other. The envisaged output includes publications, publicly accessible databases and downloadable datasets.