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Rationalising ‘Irrational’ Support for Political Violence

Jennings, C. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2011

This paper provides a rationale for group support for political violence in situations where violence does not provide a material benefit. Rabin’s (1993) theory of fairness is adopted to demonstrate that although group violence may not be the equilibrium of a material game it may be a fairness...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009024888

Why High Human Capital Makes Good Revolutionaries: The Role of the Middle Classes in Democratisation

Toscani, Frederik - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2013

This paper studies how human capital affects agents' tendency to participate in revolutions and consequently political outcomes. We show that since human capital is not expropriatable in the way land or other assets are, revolutions are more attractive if human capital is an important source of...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010700214

Information, Reputation and Ethnic Conflict

Rohner, D. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2006

Empirical studies have found ethnic cleavages to play an important role in the occurrence of civil conflict … reputation and ethnic conflict is built. Depending on the information structure and the reputation cost of defecting, economic … interaction can either result in (peaceful) trade or in appropriative conflict. Ethnic divisions affect the reputation cost of …

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005489352

From Rags to Rifles: The Economics of Deprivation, Conflict and Welfare State

Rohner, D. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2007

and production, where conflict is represented as mutual stealing. Fully specified production functions allow for both …

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005113804

Loyalty for Sale? Military Spending and Coups d'Etat

Leon, G. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2012

Coups d'etat continue to be common around the world, often leading to changes in leaders and institutions. We examine the relationship between military spending and coups and find that (i) successful coups increase military spending by more than failed attempts, and (ii) coups are more likely...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009651255

War Signals: A Theory of Trade, Trust and Conflict

Rohner, D.; Thoenig, M.; Zilibotti, F. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2011

We construct a dynamic theory of civil conflict hinging on inter-ethnic trust and trade. The model economy is … beliefs on the average propensity to trade of the other group. Since conflict disrupts trade, the onset of a conflict signals … after each conflict episode. Third, "accidental" conflicts that do not reflect economic fundamentals can lead to a permanent …

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009024872

Electoral Uncertainty and Public Goods

Aidt, T.S.; Dutta, J. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2008

This paper argues that uncertain or random voter turnout plays a key role in mediating conflicts of interest between voters and politicians on the one hand and heterogenous groups of voters on the other. Random voter turnout creates an incentive for politicians to seek con- sensus because it is...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10005207831

Knowledge is power: A theory of information, income and welfare spending

Lind, J.T.; Rohner, D. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2011

No voters cast their votes based on perfect information, but better educated and richer voters are on average better informed than others. We develop a model where the voting mistakes resulting from low political knowledge reduce the weight of poor voters, and cause parties to choose political...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009352236

Corruption and Sustainable Development

Aidt, T.S. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2010

This paper studies the relationship between corruption and sustainable development in a sample of 110 countries between 1996 and 2007. Sustainability is measured by growth in genuine wealth per capita. The empirical analysis consistently finds that cross-national measures of perceived and...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10008727347

Fiscal Federalism and Electoral Accountability

Aidt, T.; Dutta, J. - Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge - 2010

We study the e¢ cient allocation of spending and taxation authority in a federation in which federal politicians are exposed to electoral uncertainty. We show that centralization may, but need not, result in a loss of electoral accountability. We identify an important asymmetry between positive...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10008552431