This chapter provides a long-run analysis on the evolution of the Italian insurance market considering insurance industry dynamics as well. The fall of the Italian economy from its central position in the sixteenth century resulted in its relegation from the areas of strongest economic growth in Europe and is probably at the heart of the decline in importance of Italy’s financial intermediaries. This contrasted strongly with the innovative capacity of both the Italian insurance and credit markets during their period of primacy in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. By contrast, from the mid-seventeenth century, innovative institutions and instruments were stimulated in countries with strong economic demand and growing financial needs, such as the Netherlands and, particularly following the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain. The relative fall in Italian per capita income— stagnant in the seventeenth century and in slight decline in the eighteenth century — was accompanied by modest growth in trade, which limited the spread of insurance contracts. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, insurance companies began to be established in various cities that triggered a slow and gradual convergence of the Italian insurance market with the more dynamic French, German, and Austrian markets. Nevertheless, over the long term, the Italian insurance market has displayed three distinctive elements: (1) lower per capita income than countries that were its major commercial partners and a concomitant lower take-up of insurance instruments, off set by a persistently high rate of savings; (2) a legislative system that was not conducive to insurance activity, which in some periods saw the adoption of stringent regulations restricting foreign companies; and (3) the considerable direct state intervention since the eve of the First World War, intended to boost demand for insurance and social security cover. The insurance market was thus aff ected by these constraints on growth and by the policies adopted to off set them, which played a part in determining, for example, the low level of growth in supplementary social security instruments in the last fi ft een years, despite a decrease in state provision of pension cover.

Italy: Building on a Long Insurance Heritage

Piluso G.
2012-01-01

Abstract

This chapter provides a long-run analysis on the evolution of the Italian insurance market considering insurance industry dynamics as well. The fall of the Italian economy from its central position in the sixteenth century resulted in its relegation from the areas of strongest economic growth in Europe and is probably at the heart of the decline in importance of Italy’s financial intermediaries. This contrasted strongly with the innovative capacity of both the Italian insurance and credit markets during their period of primacy in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. By contrast, from the mid-seventeenth century, innovative institutions and instruments were stimulated in countries with strong economic demand and growing financial needs, such as the Netherlands and, particularly following the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain. The relative fall in Italian per capita income— stagnant in the seventeenth century and in slight decline in the eighteenth century — was accompanied by modest growth in trade, which limited the spread of insurance contracts. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, insurance companies began to be established in various cities that triggered a slow and gradual convergence of the Italian insurance market with the more dynamic French, German, and Austrian markets. Nevertheless, over the long term, the Italian insurance market has displayed three distinctive elements: (1) lower per capita income than countries that were its major commercial partners and a concomitant lower take-up of insurance instruments, off set by a persistently high rate of savings; (2) a legislative system that was not conducive to insurance activity, which in some periods saw the adoption of stringent regulations restricting foreign companies; and (3) the considerable direct state intervention since the eve of the First World War, intended to boost demand for insurance and social security cover. The insurance market was thus aff ected by these constraints on growth and by the policies adopted to off set them, which played a part in determining, for example, the low level of growth in supplementary social security instruments in the last fi ft een years, despite a decrease in state provision of pension cover.
2012
World Insurance. The Evolution of a Global Risk Network
Oxford University Press
167
188
9780199657964
Insurance industry; risk hedging; financial system; welfare state
Borscheid P. Haueter N.V. (editors); Piluso G.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Giandomenico Piluso 2012 OUP.pdf

Accesso riservato

Tipo di file: POSTPRINT (VERSIONE FINALE DELL’AUTORE)
Dimensione 6.7 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
6.7 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1788162
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 4
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact