Historical Roots of Political Instability

Bai Yu, Li Yanjun and Liu Xinyan

No 79, TUPD Discussion Papers from Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University

Abstract: Little is known about the historical origins of political instability, and systematic empirical evidence remains limited. This paper addresses this gap by examining the historical determinants of political instability through the lens of the millennia-long centralized authoritarian monarchy in imperial China. Exploiting proximity to imperial capitals as a proxy for the strength of centralized statehood, we show that counties historically exposed to stronger and more persistent state penetration exhibit significantly lower levels of political instability today, as reflected in a lower incidence of anti-government protests. Our results further suggest that cultural transmission, rather than sustained development, demographic change, or institutional continuity, is the primary channel through which the legacy of long-defunct institutions endures.

Pages: 48 pages
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https://hdl.handle.net/10097/0002007376

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:toh:tupdaa:79

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