EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

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) Downloads
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).

 
Page updated 2025-01-03
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1450