The written pirate constitution made the terms of distribution explicit—such as the captain's exact share—creating common knowledge so the crew could collectively observe and agree when a captain overstepped, coordinating their enforcement against predation by leadership.

causalpending

Speaker

Peter Leeson

Evidence Quote

by making those things explicit we common knowledge among the crew members that we can actually all observe and agree upon when in fact the captain is overstepping his bounds... this helps to coordinate the crew members ability to enforce the terms of the agreement against the pirate captain

Source

Peter Leeson on Pirates and the Invisible Hook 05/25/2009EconTalk
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:31 AM

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