In this paper we present a model where agents can choose between 1 productive and rent-seeking activities.We consider two governance institutions: 2 autocracy and parliament rule. Under autocracy rent-seeking reflects the taste 3 of the autocrat for such activities. Under parliament rule rent-seeking depends 4 on parliament voting. We show that under parliament rule the size of rent5 seeking ma...

One of the key goals of political economy is to understand how institutional arrangements shape policy outcomes. This paper studies a comparatively neglected aspect of this –the forces that shape heterogeneous performance of autocracies. The paper develops a simple theoretical model of accountability in the absence of regularized elections. Leadership turnover is managed by a selectorate –a gro...

Existing models of political transitions tend to treat either civil society or the incumbent as a unitary actor. Although useful in specific settings, both these assumptions are unrealistic in most cases and miss important dynamics, especially in cases of revolution. We develop a model of transitions in which two collective action games are nested within a larger political transformation game. ...

Some autocracies are economically successful; others stagnate at low levels of production. Paradoxically, the latter ones appear to possess more natural resources and be more resistant to political change. This paper adresses a dynamic relation between the capital accumulation and the political regime in presence of resource rents. It argues that private capital accumulation increases an unfett...

We construct a model of revolution and transition to democracy under individualistic and collectivist cultures. The main result is that, despite facing potentially larger collective action problems, countries with an individualistic culture are more likely to end up adopting democracy earlier than countries with a collectivist culture. Our empirical analysis suggests a strong and robust associa...

Canada may be about to create a publicly-funded Centre for Advancing Democracy. However, at the present time there is international speculation that autocracy promotion is increasing, now that the global wave of democratisation has stalled or gone into retreat. Some prominent authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes have gained in confidence; their potential to influence politics in other c...