Wars, Taxation, and Representation: Evidence from Five Centuries of German History

Sascha Becker, Andreas Ferrara, Eric Melander and Luigi Pascali

Journal of the European Economic Association, 2025, vol. 23, issue 6, 2241-2288

Abstract: We provide causal evidence for the role of warfare in the development of medieval constitutionalism. Using novel data on the universe of German cities between 1290 and 1710, we show that military conflicts led to city councils that were larger, more likely to be elected by citizens, and more likely to include representatives of craft guilds. Additionally, these conflicts resulted in a substantial increase in local fiscal and spending capacity. We exploit the gender of the firstborn children of local nobles as a source of exogenous variation in conflicts.

Date: 2025
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Working Paper: Wars, Taxation and Representation: Evidence from Five Centuries of German History (2020)
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