Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions, and Development
نویسنده
چکیده
Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions, and Development This paper studies the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favorable economic institutions in form of a social contract that ensures a state of law and the absence of societal conflict are not assumed exogenously under certain political systems, but arise in equilibrium. We study the conditions under which a state of law can be implemented under oligarchy, and when democratization is necessary. Economic inequality is the main determinant of economic and political institutions. In turn, institutions shape the income distribution. Simulations illustrate how inequality affects the development process and may lead to overtaking and divergence. JEL Classification: H10, O20, N10
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The Unlikely Antidote: Political Tension and Political Health in the Modern Western Tradition and the United States of America
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