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Dial M for moral hazard? Incentives to murder and the Life Assurance Act 1774

Davey, James 2014. Dial M for moral hazard? Incentives to murder and the Life Assurance Act 1774. Insurance Law Journal 25 (2)

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Abstract

Legal principles often carry inside them historical judgments about human behaviour, and law’s role in dissuading socially harmful actions. In deciding which family members have the right to insure another’s life, Eighteenth century the courts made reference to theories of punishment and deterrence. Sadly, those same views are repeated today as if universally true. This paper challenges the existing class-based model and the myth of the universally loving spouse by reference to empirical evidence. What emerges is a picture of murder for life insurance monies that, whilst rare, spans socio-economic groups and permeates all forms of social relationship. Ultimately, the world imagined by the Life Assurance Act 1774 is shown to be total fantasy.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Law
Subjects: K Law > KD England and Wales
Publisher: LexisNexis Australia
ISSN: 0020-4722
Last Modified: 25 Feb 2019 12:53
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/56519

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