The Ecological Origins of Economic and Political Systems

Haber, Stephen; Elis, Roy; Horrillo, Jordan

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3958073

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…The correlation between state policies and outcomes may reflect the influence of those outcomes on the selection of state policies or both may be consequences of some other factor. The literature focused on the effects of natural endowments, geography, and climate on economic, social, and political outcomes and institutions suggests precisely this possibility (Elis, Haber, and Horrillo 2017;Sokoloff and Engerman 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foundations of a New Democracy: Schooling, Inequality, and Voting in the Early Republic

2022

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Democratic theorists have long argued that states can create more resilient democracies through education. Educational investments are thought to produce more economic equality and instill in citizens greater capacity and responsibility to participate in politics. Using a geographic regression discontinuity design and township-level data from Antebellum New York State, we examine whether state funding for common schools led to higher voter turnout as well as higher earnings and lower inequality. Our estimates support the view that a participatory democratic culture emerged not only because of initial favorable endowments but also because of subsequent government decisions to fund education. New York townships that received more school funding later had higher median earnings, lower earnings inequality, and higher levels of voter turnout. Our findings support the view that maintaining democracy requires active investments by the state, something that has important implications for other places and other times—including today.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foundations of a New Democracy: Schooling, Inequality, and Voting in the Early Republic

2022

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“…Other political actors may have still been incentivized to play their geopolitical rivals off each other, potentially ad infinitum. Furthermore, factor endowments themselves may have favored a geopolitical ecology in Europe that reduced the need for a strong hegemonic authority and promoted fragmented governance (see Haber, Elis, and Horrillo 2022). Recently, Jesús Fernández-Villaverde and colleagues (2023) have put forth new evidence for the argument that Europe's particular topographic features (dense forests, indented coastlines, mountain barriers, rugged terrain) prevented the development of major empires there.…”

Section: Whither Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Perspectives on State Formation

Dincecco

2023

Perspect. polit.

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Governments in developed nations today collect high tax revenues and spend vast amounts on security, regulation, infrastructure, and social programs. Yet developed nations were in no way born with effective state institutions. What explains the emergence of the modern state? And, why did capable states first form historically in Western Europe? Proper answers to these questions are key to our understanding of modern forms of governance, including parliamentary democracy.

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Political Coercion and Cliometrics

Schøyen

2024

Handbook of Cliometrics

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The Ecological Origins of Economic and Political Systems

Cited by 4 publications

References 87 publications

Foundations of a New Democracy: Schooling, Inequality, and Voting in the Early Republic

Foundations of a New Democracy: Schooling, Inequality, and Voting in the Early Republic

New Perspectives on State Formation

Political Coercion and Cliometrics

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