Risk-Sharing and Endogenous Network Formation

In economic literature insurance networks are often treated as exogenous institutions. Frequently, the assumption is made that some clearly identifiable group (e.g. 'the whole village' or 'the extended family') constitutes an insurance network. Still, theory suggests that the formation of insurance links depends on a myriad of factors related to smooth information flows, norms, trust, the ability to punish, discount rates, group size and the potential gains of cooperation (e.g.