On 24 March 2024, presidential elections were held in Senegal, with opposition politician Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, who was 43 at the time, emerging as the winner. On 2 April 2024, he was sworn in as the fifth President of the Republic of Senegal. This event may mark a turning point in the...

I examine whether and how the means through which a civil war ends affects the success of a country's state-building strategy after conflict. I show that two distinct modes of conflict termination-military victories and negotiated settlements-lead to differential long-run statebuilding outcomes...

Bellicose theories of state-building suggest that wars enable the emergence of strong states via the mechanism of increased war-time fiscal capacities. We explore the hitherto littleanalysed micro-level foundations of this claim. Does the experience of war increase public support for higher...

This paper seeks to understand the impact of terrorism on taxation in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique; its effects on state-building and consolidation; the reasons that led the terrorist group to collect taxes illegally; and finally, the role of the solidarity of the (Muslim) elite in the face...

State formation through secession often requires two critical steps: building mass support for independence, and engaging in violent conflict against a state resisting territorial loss. Combining satellite data with archival sources, we statistically document how exposure to the 1970 Bhola...

Bellicose theories of state-building suggest that wars enable the emergence of strong states via the mechanism of increased war-time fiscal capacities. We explore the hitherto littleanalysed micro-level foundations of this claim. Does the experience of war increase public support for higher...

This paper seeks to understand the impact of terrorism on taxation in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique; its effects on state-building and consolidation; the reasons that led the terrorist group to collect taxes illegally; and finally, the role of the solidarity of the (Muslim) elite in the face...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine came on the heels of a series of crises that tested the resilience of the EU as a compound polity and arguably reshaped European policymaking at all levels. This Element investigates the effects of the invasion on public support for European polity building across...

How do radical reforms of the state shape economic development over time? In 1790, France’s first Constituent Assembly overhauled the kingdom’s organization to set up new administrative entities and local capitals. In a subset of departments, new capitals were chosen quasi-randomly as the...

Why is the recent track record of state-building so poor? Over the past decade, international interventions in Afghanistan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have not resulted in meaningful improvements in the capacities of...

To date, there is limited understanding about the consequences of wartime dynamics for post-war state-building processes. This paper explores one such dynamics-the forms of governance exercised by armed groups during wartime-and proposes a theoretical framework outlining how forms of wartime...

Am 24. März 2024 fanden im Senegal Wahlen für das Amt des Staatspräsidenten statt. Aus ihnen ging der zu diesem Zeitpunkt 43-jährige Oppositionspolitiker Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye als Sieger hervor. Am 02. April 2024 übernahm er die Amtsgeschäfte als fünfter Präsident der Republik...

On 24 March 2024, presidential elections were held in Senegal, with opposition politician Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, who was 43 at the time, emerging as the winner. On 2 April 2024, he was sworn in as the fifth President of the Republic of Senegal. This event may mark a turning point in the...

Why do some conflict-affected areas remain an arena of violent contestation of the state, while others transition to peace? I suggest that economic networks developed during intrastate conflict-i.e. wartime economies-give rise to continued pockets of insecurity. The significance of the wartime...

Am 24. März 2024 fanden im Senegal Wahlen für das Amt des Staatspräsidenten statt. Aus ihnen ging der zu diesem Zeitpunkt 43-jährige Oppositionspolitiker Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye als Sieger hervor. Am 02. April 2024 übernahm er die Amtsgeschäfte als fünfter Präsident der Republik...

Why do some conflict-affected areas remain an arena of violent contestation of the state, while others transition to peace? I suggest that economic networks developed during intrastate conflict-i.e. wartime economies-give rise to continued pockets of insecurity. The significance of the wartime...

Spätestens mit der erneuten Machtübernahme der Taliban im August 2021 gilt der fast 20 Jahre dauernde Einsatz in Afghanistan weithin als gescheitert. Der Literaturbericht präsentiert und kommentiert die zahlreichen Beiträge zur Ursachenforschung. Die Taliban konnten lange den afghanischen...

Building state capacity is uniquely challenging in fragile states. We report results from a randomized evaluation of a major Afghan government initiative to increase capacity by modernizing its payroll. The reform, which required teachers to biometrically register and receive salary payments via...

Spätestens mit der erneuten Machtübernahme der Taliban im August 2021 gilt der fast 20 Jahre dauernde Einsatz in Afghanistan weithin als gescheitert. Der Literaturbericht präsentiert und kommentiert die zahlreichen Beiträge zur Ursachenforschung. Die Taliban konnten lange den afghanischen...

I examine whether and how the means through which a civil war ends affects the success of a country's state-building strategy after conflict. I show that two distinct modes of conflict termination-military victories and negotiated settlements-lead to differential long-run statebuilding outcomes...

This is a replication of Mayshar et al. (2022) (henceforth MMP).1 The article posits that the state (defined as societal hierarchy such as tax-levying elites) originated from cultivation of appropriable cereal grains, contrary to the conventional theory that the state originated from increased...

Building state capacity is uniquely challenging in fragile states. We report results from a randomized evaluation of a major Afghan government initiative to increase capacity by modernizing its payroll. The reform, which required teachers to biometrically register and receive salary payments via...

What is the effect of state capacity on economic development? I argue that strong and centralised states are capable of mobilising the resources required to establish an efficient administration and provide public goods, which are preconditions for modern economic growth. To test this...

The paper focuses on the post-Maidan and post-Velvet Revolution state-building in Ukraine and Armenia. Examining the cases of Ukraine and Armenia, the qualitative, comparative analysis presented in this paper uncovers some of the similarities and differences between the two post-Soviet...

Central banks have always been important actors in the formation of nation-states and national identities. The idea of a central bank has been historically linked to the economic development of states, implementation of money-credit policy, guaranteeing financial stability, and a strong national...

Could imperial rule affect state institutions at the national, regional, and local level differently? No systematic theory to answer this question exists, which is surprising given the importance that is attributed to foreign rule for political-administrative organization around the world. The...

Why is the recent track record of state-building so poor? Over the past decade, international interventions in Afghanistan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have not resulted in meaningful improvements in the capacities of...

How do radical reforms of the state shape economic development over time? In 1790, France's first Constituent Assembly overhauled the kingdom's organization to set up new administrative entities and local capitals. In a subset of departments, new capitals were chosen quasi-randomly as the...