"How did today's rich states first establish modern fiscal systems? To answer this question, Political Transformations and Public Finances by Mark Dincecco examines the evolution of political regimes and public finances in Europe over the long term. The book argues that the emergence of...

Introduction -- The importance of warfare -- Europe's urban rise -- Evaluating the safe harbor effect -- Evaluating the warfare-to-wealth effect -- Warfare to wealth in comparative perspective -- Epilogue

We present new evidence about the relationship between military conflict and city population growth in Europe from the fall of Charlemagne's empire to the start of the Industrial Revolution. Military conflict was a main feature of European history. We argue that cities were safe harbors from...

This paper uses a new panel data set to perform a statistical analysis of political regimes and sovereign credit risk in Europe from 1750 to 1913. Old Regime polities typically suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. By the start of World War I, however, many such countries had...

We analyze a general commitment problem inherent to the formation of tax states: How can a state credibly promise to use tax revenues for pre-specified purposes? At the start of the early modern period in Europe, monarchs controlled expenditure. Where parliaments controlled taxation, the result...