What is the effect of state capacity on economic development? Strong states are capable of mobilising the resources required to establish an efficient administration and provide public goods, which are preconditions for economic development. I consider the long-lasting division of Yugoslavia...

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...

How does repression shape state capacity? While the literature on the effectiveness of repression in quelling opposition and insurgency has been mixed, the reverse impact of actually employing repression on the coercive organs has been understudied. This paper shows that repressions by police...

Zheng Yongnian's article "Discovering the Power of State: Chinese Thinking on State Power and Economic Management" offers an analysis of the role of the Chinese state in economic development. The article argues that the Chinese state has been a key factor in China's economic success, using a...

This chapter evaluates state capacity from a long-run historical perspective. We discuss how to define and measure state capacity. We explain how the establishment of a high-capacity state can enhance domestic peace, improve material prosperity, and promote more pluralistic norms. We describe...

How do civil war dynamics affect state-building decisions in the aftermath of conflict? This paper argues that, in the post-conflict period, the state focuses its efforts to build state capacity on areas in which state power has been eroded during wartime, with the goal of avoiding future...

During the first wave of COVID-19 infections, Kerala, a state in southern India, successfully managed to contain the pandemic. As a result, the Kerala model of managing the COVID-19 pandemic was celebrated as a success across the globe. However, at the time of writing, it looks like the...