State Capacity

On the one hand, a high level of military skill among the population is necessary to wage war; on the other hand, an armed and trained population has stronger bargaining power and is less willing to submit to the taxation demanded by the central government. This project establishes theoretical foundations for the trade-off faced by early modern states, and study its implications for the long-run state development process.

This project investigates the effect of spatial heterogeneity in taxation on social conflict.

Does participation in the illegal economy lead to specific political and cultural preferences? In the context of eighteenth-century France, this project examines the impact of pre-revolutionary smuggling on attitudes towards the Revolution.