Anatomy of a Premodern State

Henriques, António Castro; Costa, Leonor Freire; Palma, Nuno

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4238703

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Similar patterns emerge from other measures of fiscal capacity such as the absolute value of state revenues in silver or gold, state revenues as a share of GDP, and state revenues deflated by nominal GDP Pamuk (2006Pamuk ( , 2017 and Pamuk and Shatzmiller (2014); China: Broadberry, Guan and Li (2021) and Pamuk (2019). (Henriques et al, 2022;Pamuk, 2010, 2013;Pamuk, 2021). Fiscal capacity and per capita GDP were roughly associated.…”

Section: Measuring State Capacitysupporting

confidence: 53%

State Capacity and Economic Growth: Cautionary Tales From History

Ogilvie¹

2022

NIER

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This paper uses economic history to probe the relationship between state capacity and economic growth during the Great and Little Divergences (c.1500–c.1850). It identifies flaws in the dominant measure of state capacity, fiscal capacity, and advocates instead analysing state expenditures. It investigates five key activities on which states historically spent resources: waging war; providing law and administration; building infrastructure; pursuing industrial policy; and fostering a national culture. The lesson of history, it concludes, is not to build a capacious state. Rather, we need a state that uses its capacity to help (or at least not hinder) market activity.

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Section: Measuring State Capacitysupporting

confidence: 53%

State Capacity and Economic Growth: Cautionary Tales From History

Ogilvie¹

2022

NIER

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“…The increase in the fiscal capacity of the state (Costa et al 2022) was not followed by an increase in the capacity of the municipality of Coimbra to increase its revenues throughout practically the entire Early Modern period. The impact of the decrease in revenues was, as shown, the decrease in the number of municipal officers and a reduction in expenditure on festivities and celebrations and on charity, which led to the latter being taken away from the council.…”

Section: Municipal Finances and Institutions In Portugalmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Expenditure on officials' salaries allowed the regular functioning of local institutions, and thus political stability. On the other hand, the provision of non-military public goods occurred at the local level leading to an increase in state capacity (Costa et al 2022). This paper aims to demonstrate that the increase in the fiscal capacity of the state was not followed by an increase in the capacity of the municipality of Coimbra to increase its revenues throughout most of the Early Modern period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The municipalities were also important in creating state cohesion through expenditure on festivities and celebrations, both religious and royal (weddings, funerals, etc.). The importance of municipalities was also visible in terms of increasing the capacity of the state, through the provision of non-military public goods, such as works and justice (Costa et al 2022).…”

Section: Revista De Historia Económica / Journal Of Iberian and Latin...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another recent study highlights the importance of expenditure by municipalities for the analysis of the capacity of states in the Early Modern era (Costa et al 2022). According to the authors, the fact that most municipalities spent money on officials' salaries, social welfare and popular or religious celebrations shows that local government was central to state cohesion-fostering social order with minimal central interferenceand enhancing fiscal capacity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Municipal Finances and Institutions in Portugal: The Case of Coimbra City Council (1557-1836)

Barbosa

2023

RHE / JILAEH

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This article aims to analyse the finances of the Coimbra city council from 1557 to 1836. Our objective is to examine the causes of long-term changes in municipal revenue and expenditure, particularly during the extended period of decline that occurred between the mid-17th century and the late 18th century. This study will focus on the composition of revenue and expenditure, as well as on revenue collection mechanisms. We aim to present the empirical data on the revenue and expenditure components that allow us to understand the changes that took place. Finally, we hope to be able to explain the causes that led to significant variations in revenue and expenditure in a dialogue with existing literature. The primary sources used correspond to municipal revenue and expenditure books, supplemented by other sources such as legislation, correspondence and auction books.

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Comparative European Institutions and the Little Divergence, 1385–1800

Henriques

Palma

2022

J Econ Growth

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Why did the countries that first benefited from access to the New World – Castile and Portugal – decline relative to their followers, especially England and the Netherlands? The dominant narrative is that worse initial institutions at the time of the opening of the Atlantic trade explain the Iberian divergence. In this paper, we build a new dataset which allows for a comparison of institutional quality over time. We consider the frequency and nature of parliamentary meetings, the frequency and intensity of extraordinary taxation and coin debasement, and real interest rates together with spreads for public debt. We find no evidence that the political institutions of Portugal and Spain were worse until the English Civil War.

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Anatomy of a Premodern State

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

State Capacity and Economic Growth: Cautionary Tales From History

State Capacity and Economic Growth: Cautionary Tales From History

Municipal Finances and Institutions in Portugal: The Case of Coimbra City Council (1557-1836)

Comparative European Institutions and the Little Divergence, 1385–1800

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