General Average and Risk Management in Medieval and Early Modern Maritime Business

Maria Fusaro is Professor in Early Modern Social and Economy History at the University of Exeter, UK, where she directs the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies. She is the PI for the ERC-funded project 'AveTransRisk – Average – Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries)'. Andrea Addobbati is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Pisa, Italy. Luisa Piccinno is Associate Professor of Economic History at the Department of Economics of University of Genoa, Italy. This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' – a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared between all participants to protect equity. This volume traces the history of this risk management tool from its origins in the pre-Roman Mediterranean through to its use in the shipping sector today. Contributions range from the Islamic Mediterranean to the Low Countries, and taken together, provide a wide-ranging analysis of social, cultural, and political aspects of pre-modern maritime commerce in Europe.