This essay examines the question of why elites within pre-modern or natural sates, who earn economic rents and other forms of political privilege from the status quo, ever consent to reform that would threaten their dominance within the political economic order. The paper examines this question...

The growth of the 17th century French state contributed to the establishment to a more regular, and even liberal legal order. Higher fiscal demands on the state led to a process of legal standardization that extended the rule of law. We use data on witch trials and taxation covering twenty-one...

It is now well established that highly developed countries tend to score well on measures of social capital and have higher levels of generalized trust. In turn, the willingness to trust has been shown to be correlated with various social and environmental factors (e.g. institutions, culture) on...

It is now well established that highly developed countries tend to score well on measures of social capital and have higher levels of generalized trust. In turn, the willingness to trust has been shown to be correlated with various social and environmental factors (e.g. institutions, culture) on...

There is a worldwide tendency for more educated people to trust in markets, private business, and trade, and to distrust government regulation and public provision relative to the less educated even in countries where people generally favor regulation (Aghion, et al. 2010). Individual survey...

Does education promote support for liberal economic views? We show in a large cross-section of countries that in almost all cases those with higher educational attainment are more pro-market and less sympathetic to economic regulation than those who have less formal education. This is true in...

Is in utero exposure to testosterone (T), measured by the second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), associated with lifetime educational attainment? A growing body of work finds exposure to prenatal T to be associated with aggression, physical fitness, performance in computer science, and type of...

Does the educational process itself transform an individual's world outlook towards pro-market values in transition? Much evidence indicates that education correlates with liberal values. However, it is not clear whether this association is the result of selection into education or whether...

Using a large sample drawn from families in the Moscow and Moscow region which are part of the Russian RMLS longitudinal survey we observe clear links between measured 2D:4D digit ratios and a variety of life outcome measures, even with the inclusion of multiple controls. Contributing to...