Early modern European powers were beset by episodic unrest as they sought to consolidate authority and build empires. We examine how growing state communication networks and increased state presence impacted rural unrest by combining original and …
This study argues that urbanization altered the relationship between candidates' occupation and their electoral success. To identify the causal effect of local variation in urbanization, we exploit exogenous changes in the boundaries of electoral …
Noisy signaling model that highlights how uncertainty about the type of potential autocratic successors might paradoxically provide incentives for elite investment.
Noisy signaling model that highlights how uncertainty about the type of potential autocratic successors might induce economic elites to support a democratic transition.
The pervasiveness of gender distinctions in grammar is strongly correlated with the adoption of political gender quotas.
Women speaking languages that more pervasively mark gender distinctions are less likely to participate in economic and political life, and more likely to encounter barriers in their access to land and credit.