Autocracies have diverse records of economic growth. This paper provides a theory of endogenous coalition formation to explain economic performance in autocracy. The nature of the ruling coalition that the autocrat relies on to rule the society and extract rents affects the degree of...

With an equal social structure, China seems to be better prepared for a functioning democracy than other developing countries. It has stayed authoritarian because the CCP has successfully diverted the demand for democratization through tactics of economic growth, expansion of civil liberty, and...