The <italic>Knappschaft</italic> was a mutual association through which German miners insured themselves against accident, illness, and old age. The <italic>Knappschaft</italic> underlies Bismarck's sickness and accident insurance legislation, and thus Germany's system today. This article focuses on moral hazard, which plagued...

Banks play a greater role in the German financial system than in the United States or Britain. Germany's large universal banks are admired by those who advocate bank deregulation in the United States. Others admire the universal banks for their supposed role in corporate governance and...

Banks play a greater role in the German financial system than in those of the United States or Britain. Germany's large universal banks are admired by those who advocate bank deregulation in the United States. Others admire the universal banks for their supposed role in corporate governance and...

Denmark's credit cooperatives were introduced relatively late and were never as important to the Danish financial system as credit cooperatives in several similar European countries. This experience stands in contrast to the experience of other cooperative enterprises in Denmark, most notably...

Institutions that rely on joint liability to facilitate lending to the poor have a long history and are now a common feature of many developing countries. Economists have proposed several theories of joint liability lending that stress various aspects of its informational and enforcement...

Credit cooperatives are common institutions today and were numerous in several European countries during the nineteenth century. Credit cooperatives were especially successful in Germany, which is surprising given Germany's highly developed banking system. Why was there any room for another...