regime changes are often followed by redistribution to the poor at the expense of the former elite. We argue that the reason …

voting, where agents vote over income redistribution. The key feature of the theory is that the future constituency of … redistributive policies depends positively on the current level of redistribution, since this affects both private investments and … without a welfare state. The theory can explain why welfare state institutions, originally introduced in response to specific …

We develop a theory of political transitions inspired in part by the experiences of Western Europe and Latin America … relationship between inequality and redistribution is nonmonotonic; societies with intermediate levels of inequality consolidate … democracy and redistribute more than both very equal and very unequal countries. We also show that asset redistribution, such as …

Even relatively poor people oppose high rates of redistribution because of the anticipation that they, or their …