Organizational Choice in UK Marine Insurance

Pearson, Robin; Doe, Helen

Abstract

From the eighteenth century British marine insurance developed via a wide range of organizational forms, including individual and syndicated underwriters, mutual associations, chartered corporations, unchartered stock companies, and protection and indemnity clubs. At times the issue of what was the best vehicle to deliver marine insurance became a hotly debated topic. This chapter explores why these different organizational forms emerged and what were the relative advantages and disadvantages that explain their subsequent performance. It points to the importance of historical contingency, such as specific financial and political circumstances, to the search to control asymmetric information problems, to the role of specialization, local knowledge, and niche markets, and to the entrepreneurial qualities of individual managers and promoters.

Citation

Pearson, R., & Doe, H. (2015). Organizational Choice in UK Marine Insurance. In R. Pearson, & T. Yoneyama (Eds.), Corporate Forms and Organisational Choice in International Insurance (47-67). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780198739005.003.0003

• Online Publication Date: Nov 1, 2015
• Publication Date: Nov 12, 2015
• Deposit Date: Apr 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 9, 2023
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 47-67
• Book Title: Corporate Forms and Organisational Choice in International Insurance
• Chapter Number: 3
• ISBN: 9780198739005
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780198739005.003.0003
• Keywords: Marine insurance; Entrepreneurship; Adverse selection; Protection and indemnity clubs; Lloyd’s of London; Mutuality
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1099319
• Additional Information: co-author, Helen Doe
• Contract Date: Oct 1, 2014