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Tontines, Public Finance, and Revolution in France and England, 1688–1789

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  • Weir, David R.

Abstract

Tontines were used more extensively by France than Britain. Comparative tontine history illuminates the differing evolution of public finance in the two countries and its political consequences. Archival materials establish the number of participants in French tontines. Internal rates of return on tontines and alternatives show subsidy of tontines by the French government. Repudiation in 1770 contributed to the political attitudes of life annuitants, the most important class of state creditors, during the fiscal crisis of the late 1780s.

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  • Weir, David R., 1989. "Tontines, Public Finance, and Revolution in France and England, 1688–1789," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 95-124, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:49:y:1989:i:01:p:95-124_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Kim Oosterlinck & Loredana Ureche-Rangau & Jacques-Marie Vaslin, 2013. "Waterloo: a Godsend for French Public Finances?," Working Papers 0041, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. Smith, Bruce D. & Villamil, Anne P., 1998. "Government borrowing using bonds with randomly determined returns: Welfare improving randomization in the context of deficit finance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 351-370, April.
    3. Lange, Andreas & List, John A. & Price, Michael K., 2007. "A fundraising mechanism inspired by historical tontines: Theory and experimental evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(9), pages 1750-1782, September.
    4. Chen, An & Guillen, Montserrat & Rach, Manuel, 2021. "Fees in tontines," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 89-106.
    5. Milevsky, Moshe A. & Salisbury, Thomas S., 2015. "Optimal retirement income tontines," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 91-105.
    6. Raj Kumari Bahl & Sotirios Sabanis, 2016. "Model-Independent Price Bounds for Catastrophic Mortality Bonds," Papers 1607.07108, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2020.
    7. Chilosi, David, 2014. "Risky Institutions: Political Regimes and the Cost of Public Borrowing in Early Modern Italy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 887-915, September.
    8. Rothschild, Casey G., 2009. "Adverse selection in annuity markets: Evidence from the British Life Annuity Act of 1808," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(5-6), pages 776-784, June.
    9. Bahl, Raj Kumari & Sabanis, Sotirios, 2021. "Model-independent price bounds for Catastrophic Mortality Bonds," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 276-291.
    10. Willard, Kristen L & Guinnane, Timothy W & Rosen, Harvey S, 1996. "Turning Points in the Civil War: Views from the Greenback Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 1001-1018, September.
    11. Sargent, Thomas J & Velde, Francois R, 1995. "Macroeconomic Features of the French Revolution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 474-518, June.
    12. Mikael Priks, 2005. "Optimal Rent Extraction in Pre-Industrial England and France – Default Risk and Monitoring Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series 1464, CESifo.
    13. Yikang Li & Casey Rothschild, 2020. "Selection and Redistribution in the Irish Tontines of 1773, 1775, and 1777," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(3), pages 719-750, September.
    14. Andreas Lange & John A. List & Michael K. Price, 2004. "Using Tontines to Finance Public Goods: Back to the Future?," NBER Working Papers 10958, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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