CHINESE TRADE IN PRE-SPANISH PHILIPPINES: CREDIT, HOSTAGE AND RAID REGIMES

The article explores documentary evidence describing protohistoric institutions in early Philippines in relation to trade between the Chinese and pre-Spanish Philippine polities. The study presents analytics utilising game theory to shed light on historical accounts and archaeological findings. What stood crucial for Chinese traders were the internal trade networks of Philippine polities as these ensured distribution of Chinese prestige goods; and property rights enforcement to enable trade in ports. Exchange is demonstrated as a Nash equilibrium in two polities where one has strong enforcement while the other has weak enforcement augmented by hostage-taking. In the third polity, the property rights enforcers are themselves the predators and raids are carried out instead of trade.