Pirate cooperation was sustained by making contracts self-enforcing: because a broken-down criminal organization meant capture and hanging, every member had a powerful shared incentive to maintain cooperation, unlike the betrayal narratives of Hollywood thieves.
causalpending
Speaker
Peter LeesonEvidence Quote
“the key thing for pirates... is to make the contracts... self enforcing and the the basic intuition behind this... you were liable to wind up at the hanging at the end of the hangman's noose and so that was a very very powerful motivator to help to help but create cooperation”
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:31 AM
My Notes
Loading notes...