Marine insurance firms, business networks, and the modernisation of the financial sector in Southern Italy (1820–1900)
研究了19世纪那不勒斯海上保险公司与当地精英商业网络的演变，发现统一后精英将重心从保险转向银行以维持权力，印证了南方金融体系的“被动现代化”假说。
In this article, we study the trajectories of marine insurance companies within the Naples business network over the nineteenth century in connection with the business interests of local elites.First, we provide a detailed reconstruction of the marine insurance sector during the century, filling a gap in the literature.Second, backed by original historical and prosopographical reconstructions, the business network evolution of interlocking directorates shows how the shift of the local business system from the centrality of marine insurance companies towards banks is related to the strategic behaviours of local elites, aimed at preserving their power after the Italian unification.This interpretative perspective demonstrates the coherence of our findings with the 'passive modernisation' hypothesis in the Southern financial system.