Centralized tax administration is the hallmark of the modern fiscal state. This paper evaluates a commitment problem inherent in establishing fiscal centralization: could states credibly promise to use centralized tax revenues to finance prespecified local government expenditures? We examine how...

Centralized tax administration is the hallmark of the modern fiscal state. This paper evaluates a commitment problem inherent in establishing fiscal centralization: could states credibly promise to use centralized tax revenues to finance prespecified local government expenditures? We examine how...

How to soften resistance to state-building efforts by reform losers? This paper highlights the strategy of compensation via the bureaucracy, in which the ruler offers meaningful government offices in exchange for elites’ acceptance of state-building reforms. We empirically explore this...