Plantation Mortgage-Backed Securities: Evidence from Surinam in the 18th Century

This is the replication package for the article Plantation Mortgage-Backed Securities: Evidence from Surinam in the 18th Century. In the second half of the 18th century, Dutch bankers channeled investors’ funds to sugar and coffee plantations in the Caribbean, Surinam in particular. Agency problems between plantation owners, bankers, and investors led to an arrangement called negotiaties. Bankers oversaw plantations’ cash-flows and placed mortgage-debt with investors. We demonstrate how this securitization arrangement worked using market-wide data and detailed records from banker F.W. Hudig. During the boom, debt contracts and their securitization were an effective solution for planters, bankers, and investors. However, the market crashed after an oversupply of credit. This led to inefficient restructuring due to debt overhang.

本数据集为文章《18世纪苏里南的种植园抵押证券：来自苏里南的证据》的复制包。在18世纪下半叶，荷兰银行家将投资者的资金引导至加勒比地区的糖和咖啡种植园，尤其是苏里南。种植园主、银行家和投资者之间的代理问题导致了所谓的协商安排。银行家监督种植园的现金流，并向投资者放置抵押债务。我们通过市场范围内的数据和银行家F.W. Hudig的详细记录，展示了这一证券化安排是如何运作的。在繁荣时期，债务合同及其证券化对种植园主、银行家和投资者而言是有效的解决方案。然而，由于信贷供应过剩，市场崩溃导致了因债务负担而引发的低效重组。