Learning how to manage risk by hedging: The VOC insurance contract of 1613

Oscar Gelderblom; Abe De Jong; Abe De Jong; Joost Jonker

doi:10.1093/ereh/hez003

Learning how to manage risk by hedging: The VOC insurance contract of 1613

Oscar Gelderblom, Abe De Jong, Abe De Jong, Joost Jonker

Department of Finance

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Academic › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine an unusual contract which the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sold to investors in 1613. The firm was in a position as modelled by Froot, Scharfstein and Stein for modern corporations: Facing heavy, strategic investment, about to reap the benefits, but unable to attract the necessary capital. Hedging or insurance then makes sense to safeguard continued operations. Understanding this, the VOC directors took out insurance on incoming cash from return cargoes. We analyze the contract's price and underwriters and contrast the VOC's single use of this peculiar instrument with the English East India Company's later repeated application.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	332-355
Number of pages	24
Journal	European Review of Economic History
Volume	24
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hez003
Publication status	Published - 30 Mar 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Historical Economics Society. All rights reserved.

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10.1093/ereh/hez003

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Learning how to manage risk by hedging: The VOC insurance contract of 1613

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Bibliographical note

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