This paper provides a comparative assessment of risk-mitigating strategies in early modern transimperial exploitation. Analyses of risk and uncertainty in long-distance/colonial trades often depart from ‘intra-empire’ settings, yet transimperial trade – or foreigners seeking to exploit the resources of another empire – was widespread. We argue that by virtue of protectionist political economies of empire, this widespread transimperial exploitation entailed institutional risk. We analyze the commonalities and differences in Dutch exploitation of Spanish colonial resources in the 17th century and French colonial resources in the 18th century, identifying shared patterns in how actors managed this institutional risk across different empires and periods.
Leiden University, Netherlands - ORCID: 0000-0002-7359-9945
Leiden University, Netherlands - ORCID: 0000-0001-8601-7468
Chapter Title
Ad imperium et ultra: a comparative assessment of risk-mitigating strategies in early modern transimperial exploitation
Authors
Tessa De Boer, Ramona Negrón
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2.20
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Gestione del rischio, insolvenza e bancarotta nel mondo premoderno (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Risk management, insolvency, and bankruptcy in the pre-modern world (13th-18th centuries)
Editors
Angela Orlandi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
568
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0962-5
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0963-2
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0964-9
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195