Why have economic reforms aimed at reducing the role of the state been successful in some cases but not others? Are reform failures the consequence of leviathan states that hinder private economic activity, or of weak states unable to implement policies effectively and provide a supportive...

This paper examines a distinctive mechanism of providing incentives to local governments - upgrading counties to cities. In China, awarding city status to existing counties is the dominant way of creating new urban administrative units, during which the local government gets many benefits. Using...

An American political scientist and a Russian geographer, specialists in postcommunist political reform and Russian regional politics, respectively, adopt a subnational approach to democratization, measuring democracy in a standard fashion across 57 regions of Russia. They rate levels of...

The Canadian government has a policy of searching laptop computers at airports and other border crossings. It is considered an outrageous policy by those who have been subjected to this gross invasion of privacy, and it has drawn some press attention. The Canadian courts have yet to rule on the...

This paper analyzes whether the interplay between national and international law has any discernible effects on economically relevant variables. The specific aspects dealt with include (i) the difficulty of delegating competence to international bodies in the first place, (ii) the difficulty of...

This article explores how the institutional context, including central and local governments, has co-evolved with business in relation to small cars and sustainability. This is a very relevant issue for business and society in view of the environmental implications of the rapidly growing vehicle...

This paper reconceptualizes and unbundles the relationship between public predation, state capacity, and economic development from a constitutional perspective. By reframing our understanding of state capacity theory from a constitutional perspective, we argue that to the extent there is a...

The determinants of government responsiveness to its citizens is a key issue in political economy. Here, we develop a model based on the solution of political agency problems. Having a more informed and politically active electorate strengthens incentives for governments to be responsive. This...

The determinants of government responsiveness to its citizens is a key issue in political economy. Here, we develop a model based on the solution of political agency problems. Having a more informed and politically active electorate strengthens incentives for governments to be responsive. This...

This article attempts to account for both continuity and change in network structures and relationships by analyzing how a country's political approach to institution building interacts with network reproduction. While firm level actors may develop tenacious socio-economic relationships, the...