Throughout history humans have commonly organized to prevent or mitigate risks, or to compensate for losses caused by risk events. Given the infinite variety of risks that existed, it is unsurprising that insurance—the primary modern risk mitigation industry—developed through a wide range of organizational forms. Yet we know little about why different forms of organization were chosen in the past, or why they survived or disappeared. This book represents the first attempt to explore the foundation, co-existence, and performance of multiple organizational forms in the history of insurance, to s ... More

Throughout history humans have commonly organized to prevent or mitigate risks, or to compensate for losses caused by risk events. Given the infinite variety of risks that existed, it is unsurprising that insurance—the primary modern risk mitigation industry—developed through a wide range of organizational forms. Yet we know little about why different forms of organization were chosen in the past, or why they survived or disappeared. This book represents the first attempt to explore the foundation, co-existence, and performance of multiple organizational forms in the history of insurance, to situate these forms in an international comparative context, and to relate the results of historical analysis to modern organizational theory. Fourteen leading scholars examine the development, performance, regulation, and governance of different insurance organizations in eight major markets around the world from the eighteenth century to the present. Their findings indicate how the history of insurance requires organizational theory to be supplemented or corrected in important ways. The book highlights the role of political and cultural preferences, regulatory intervention, technological change, and historical contingency in shaping the organizational structures of insurance markets. It points to the importance of a culture of mutualism and the role of entrepreneurship in driving the early growth of insurance in uncertain risk environments such as settler or frontier societies. It presents evidence for the historical efficiency of mutual life insurers. Agency theory alone cannot explain the complexity and great variety of organizational forms co-existing in different political, legal, and economic contexts in the past.