The British Navy Rules: Monitoring and Incompatible Incentives in the Age of Fighting Sail

The British Navy during the age of sail was systematically successful against its opponents, most notably the French. This paper documents this success, shows that it cannot be explained by superior ships, training, or other naval capital, and puts forth the hypothesis that the British Navy governance structure provided better incentives to fight than those of their opponents. The hypothesis is tested by examining the structure of the rules and then contrasting them with the rules governing privateers, the army, and the navy over time. The paper concludes with a discussion of why the French did not copy the British strategy. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA) He asked who the stout man was who had just been so ceremoniously disposed of. “He was an admiral, ” they told him. “But why execute this admiral? ” he enquired. “Because he had not enough dead men to his credit, ” was the reply; “he joined battle with a French admiral, and it has been established that their ships were not close enough to engage. ” “But surely,” exclaimed Candide, “the French admiral must have been just as far from the English as the English admiral was from the French! ” “True enough, ” was the answer; “but in this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others. ” Voltaire, p. 111 1