Italy: cooperation and competition, 1500-1800

The essay traces the movement of the rules governing marine insurance in Italy from custom to law, and from private to corporate structures ultimately overcame the limitations of traditional underwriting to become dominant. It sets markets' efforts to meet the changing requirement of buyers against the desire for fixed rules supported by efficient enforcement systems. It notes how small, mutually dependent markets had obviated the need for stringent institutional controls.The need for such measures arose with the arrival of new market partecipants, which demanded greater public involvement in markets. The essay, furthermore, introduces a theme which arises from this challange: the clash of mutuality and speculation. The market arose as an ideally closed framework, operating on mutaula basis, but which immediately suffered serious operational problems due to its rigidity in the face of economic trends, and the imperfection of its intended reciprocity.