Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions, and Development
Matteo Cervellati,
Piergiuseppe Fortunato (piergiuseppe.fortunato@unctad.org) and
Uwe Sunde
No 1450, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
Abstract:
We analyze the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favorable economic institutions ensure the appropriability of rents in form of a state of law. We study the conditions under which a state of law can be implemented under oligarchy, and when democratization is necessary. Inequality in endowments and incomes prolongs the absence of good institutions and delays democratization. Conversely, institutions shape the income distribution. Simulations illustrate how inequality affects the development process and may lead to overtaking and divergence. The implications are in line with historical and empirical evidence.
Keywords: institutions; inequality; democratization; state of law; long-term development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H10 N10 O20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2005-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-his, nep-hpe, nep-pbe, nep-pke, nep-pol and nep-reg
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)
Published - revised version published in: Economic Journal, 2008, 118(531), 1354-1384
Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp1450.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Journal Article: Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development (2008)
Journal Article: Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development (2008)
Working Paper: Hobbes to rousseau: Inequality, institutions and development (2008)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1450
Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
library@iza.org
Access Statistics for this paper
More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte (hinte@iza.org).