The effect of income on individuals' welfare attitudes varies across societies. Existing studies focus on institutions and macroeconomic conditions to explain the variation. We argue that knowledge mediates self-interested individuals' income-based welfare attitudes. We focus on a set of...

How does economic globalization influence individuals' welfare attitudes? We part ways with the literature whose focus has been on identifying the losers and exploring whether and to what extent they demand government compensation. By intersecting two dimensions of globalization perceptions –...

This paper examines the conditions under which dictators hold competitive elections, and looks specifically at the role played by a dictator's age. Drawing on previous studies arguing that uncertainty increases the likelihood of competitive elections, I argue that as a dictator ages, uncertainty...

State revenue production since the third wave of democratization contrasts sharply with the experiences of the first and second waves of democratization. The later democratizers tend to adopt and raise revenue from a regressive tax on consumption (the value-added tax: VAT), which is more...

Employing a survey method to explore attitudes towards foreign workers in Japan, we uncover evidence that upends the conventional wisdom that “socio-tropic values” are anchored in perceptions of threat. Building a new typology that differentiates among native-born citizens who value or fear...

Echoing the call of "no taxation without representation", the evolution of modern taxation went hand-in-hand with early democratization. However, the study of contemporary democratization has assigned a marginal role to taxation compared with other correlates, such as economic inequality and the...