Tree crops have changed land tenure in Africa. Farmers have acquired more permanent, alienable rights, but have also faced disputes with competing claimants and the state. I show that the introduction of Para rubber had similar effects in the Benin region of colonial Nigeria. Farmers initially...

We present new evidence about the quantitative extent to which individual bureaucrats matter for public sector performance in a developing country context where the state is weak. We construct revenue district office-matched panel data for the Philippines that allow us to follow tax officers...

This paper shows new evidence that, counterintuitively, the economic legacy of warfare can be positive. We use geocoded data on historical conflict locations in Europe to construct estimates of local exposure to past warfare. We document a positive and significant relationship between historical...

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...

We analyze the conditions under which internal conflict can promote or impede state development, taking imperial China as a laboratory. We develop a novel theoretical framework in which local elites and the central state interact over the provision of internal security. Using new micro-level...