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Nation states vs. united empire: Effects of political competition on economic growth

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  • Angus Chu

Abstract

Is the European nation-state system more favorable to economic growth than the united-empire system in ancient China? This paper develops an endogenous-growth model to analyze the conditions under which economic growth is higher under political fragmentation than political unification. Under political unification, the economy is vulnerable to excessive Leviathan taxation and the costs of unifying heterogeneous populations. Under political fragmentation, the competing rulers are constrained in taxation but spend excessively on military defense. If and only if the heterogeneity costs are sufficiently high relative to the mobility cost of citizens or equilibrium defense spending, then political fragmentation would be more favorable to growth than political unification. When the political regime is endogenously chosen by rulers, they do not always choose the growth-maximizing regime. In particular, there exists a range of values for the heterogeneity costs, in which political fragmentation is more favorable to growth but the rulers prefer political unification.
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Suggested Citation

  • Angus Chu, 2010. "Nation states vs. united empire: Effects of political competition on economic growth," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 181-195, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:145:y:2010:i:1:p:181-195
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-009-9560-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Randall Holcombe & DeEdgra Williams, 2011. "The cartelization of local governments," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 65-74, October.
    2. Jesús Fernández-Villaverde & Mark Koyama & Youhong Lin & Tuan-Hwee Sng, 2023. "The Fractured-Land Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(2), pages 1173-1231.
    3. Stephen Ansolabehere & M. Socorro Puy, 2020. "Constitutions, Federalism, and National Integration," Working Papers 2020-04, Universidad de Málaga, Department of Economic Theory, Málaga Economic Theory Research Center.
    4. Kenneth S. Chan & Jean-Pierre Laffargue, 2014. "The Growth and Decline of the Modern Sector and the Merchant Class in Imperial China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 13-28, February.
    5. Chu, Angus & Peretto, Pietro & Furukawa, Yuichi, 2023. "Evolution from political fragmentation to a unified empire in a Malthusian economy," MPRA Paper 118253, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Chu, Angus C. & Kou, Zonglai & Wang, Xilin, 2022. "An economic analysis of political meritocracy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Ansolabehere, Stephen & Puy, M. Socorro, 2022. "Constitutions, federalism, and national integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    8. Chu, Angus C. & Furukawa, Yuichi & Wang, Xilin, 2022. "Rent-seeking government and endogenous takeoff in a Schumpeterian economy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic growth; Leviathan taxation; Interstate competition; Political fragmentation; H20; H56; O41; O43;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War

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