Marine Insurance [electronic resource] : Origins and Institutions, 1300-1850 /
Leonard, Adrian.editor.
Since its invention in Italy in the fourteenth century, marine insurance has provided merchants with capital protection in times of crisis, thus oiling the gears of trade and commerce. With a focus on customs, laws, and organisational structures, this book reveals the Italian origins of marine insurance, and tracks the spread of underwriting practices and institutions in Europe and America through the early modern era. With contributions from eleven leading researchers from seven countries, the book examines key institutional developments in the history of marine insurance. The authors discuss its invention in Italy, and its evolution from private to corporate structures, assessing the causes and impacts of various state interventions. Amsterdam and Antwerp are analysed as one-time key centres of underwriting, as is the emergence and maturity of marine insurance in London. The book evaluates an experiment in corporate underwriting in Cadiz, and the development of insurance institutions in the United States, before applying the metrics of underwriting to discuss commerce raiding in the Atlantic up to the nineteenth century.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Contents; List of Figures and Tables; Notes on the Contributors; List of Abbreviations; 1 Introduction: the Nature and Study of Marine Insurance; 2 Genoa, 1340-1620: Early Development of Marine Insurance; 3 Italy 1500-1800: Cooperation and Competition; 4 Antwerp 1490-1590: Insurance and Speculation; 5 Amsterdam 1585-1790: Emergence, Dominance, and Decline; 6 England 1523-1601: The Beginnings of Marine Insurance; 7 London 1426-1601: Marine Insurance and the Law Merchant; 8 England 1660-1720: Corporate or Private?; 9 America 1720-1820: War and Organisation
10 Cadiz 1780-1808: A Corporate Experiment11 Britain and America 1650-1850: Harmonising Government and Commerce; 12 From Genoa to London: the Places of Insurance in Europe; Bibliography of Insurance History; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Since its invention in Italy in the fourteenth century, marine insurance has provided merchants with capital protection in times of crisis, thus oiling the gears of trade and commerce. With a focus on customs, laws, and organisational structures, this book reveals the Italian origins of marine insurance, and tracks the spread of underwriting practices and institutions in Europe and America through the early modern era. With contributions from eleven leading researchers from seven countries, the book examines key institutional developments in the history of marine insurance. The authors discuss its invention in Italy, and its evolution from private to corporate structures, assessing the causes and impacts of various state interventions. Amsterdam and Antwerp are analysed as one-time key centres of underwriting, as is the emergence and maturity of marine insurance in London. The book evaluates an experiment in corporate underwriting in Cadiz, and the development of insurance institutions in the United States, before applying the metrics of underwriting to discuss commerce raiding in the Atlantic up to the nineteenth century.
Finance—History.
Insurance.
Economic history.
Financial History.
Insurance.
Economic History.