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- Title
Mutual Marine Insurance in the Province of Groningen, c. 1605-1770: A Case of Financial Innovation.
- Authors
Go, Sabine C. P. J.
- Abstract
An alternative form of marine insurance developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Groningen, the most northeastern province of the Dutch Republic,. This marine insurance system was based on mutual boxes affiliated to shipping gnilds and emerged both in the City of Groningen and the rural peat-producing communities of Wildervank, Veendam, Pekel A and Oldambten. The boxes were designed to provide financial support for skippers in need due to illness, death or loss of a vessel. In most cases, skippers paid a premium based on the calculated risks associated with the voyage in which they were engaged. Skippers who lost their vessel would generally receive a lump sum of 300 guilders, an amount which remained remarkably stable for 150 years. A comparison with other regions and industries suggests that the boxes in Groningen developed independently. A pattern of incremental change is discernible, as informal structures were superseded by more formal institutions. In the process, common sets of goals evolved, adjustments in the balance of power occurred, different organizational forms were introduced and the institutional framework in which these agencies operated was altered. The specific character of Groningen's trade, combined with the scale and structure of its shipping interests, underpinned the development of this alternative insurance system. The boxes were reasonably competitive because they had low operating costs and never sought commercial profits. The fact that their customers were also part of the supply chain kept premiums low. The province of Groningen proved a fertile environment in which an alternative form of marine insurance thrived for nearly two hundred years.
- Subjects
GRONINGEN (Netherlands); NETHERLANDS; MARINE insurance; MARITIME shipping; FINANCIAL services industry; FREIGHT insurance; MARINE insurance policies
- Publication
International Journal of Maritime History, 2005, Vol 17, Issue 1, p123
- ISSN
0843-8714
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/084387140501700107