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...

The fragmentation of an economy through secession leads to a significant economic contraction. Specifically, secession is expected to severely impact food prices. This study examines the Sudanese economy, which faced profound consequences after South Sudan's secession in July 2011. The economic...

We investigate the consequences of a peaceful shift of power from one social group to another. Theoretically, we show that an individual's decision to stay put or migrate depends on the difference between the political preferences of groups and the change in tax. Empirically, we use the case of...

We apply insights from the political economy of secession to analyse the early years of the Irish Free State (IFS). The IFS was fortuitous in a debt settlement that enabled it to begin its existence debt free, whilst also receiving financial assistance to quell civil unrest. Yet the IFS was...

We investigate the consequences of a peaceful shift of power from one social group to another. Theoretically, we show that an individual’s decision to stay put or migrate depends on the difference between the political preferences of groups and the change in tax. Empirically, we use the case...

There are some very well-known independence movements in Europe. However, most of these movements and parties are less well-known. In an increasingly integrated and harmonized Europe, the question arises as to how the parties and movements are influenced by the European level. The fact is that...

This study examined the effect of perceived ethnic marginalization, perception towards Nigerian democracy, and socioeconomic condition on support for secession among members of the Igbo ethnic group. Perceived ethnic marginalization and negative perceptions toward Nigerian democracy were found...

Preferences about the vertical distribution of power in federal systems are not well understood. I argue that negative historical experiences with higher-level governments can plausibly raise demands for exit strategies and a devolution of power. But integration, for instance delegating power...

However, in the absence of a uniform legal regime for families within the EU, international couples, whether married, registered as partners or in an informal relationship, face legal uncertainty and additional costs in the event of separation or death, making it very difficult for them to know...

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the secessionist orientation of Kurdistan Region's paradiplomacy in the context of two main variables: the internal structural variables in Iraq after 2003 and the nationalism variable. Design/methodology/approach - This study relies on the theory of...

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the secessionist orientation of Kurdistan Region's paradiplomacy in the context of two main variables: the internal structural variables in Iraq after 2003 and the nationalism variable. Design/methodology/approach - This study relies on the theory of...

Recent years show a renewed interest in public choice and political economy in the topic of secession. This chapter attempts to give a broad overview of the relevant theoretical and empirical studies in the field. First, the literature explaining long-run trends in state size is summarized....

We apply insights from the political economy of secession to analyse the early years of the Irish Free State (IFS). The IFS was fortuitous in a debt settlement that enabled it to begin its existence debt free, whilst also receiving financial assistance to quell civil unrest. Yet the IFS was...

We investigate the consequences of a peaceful shift of power from one social group to another. Theoretically, we show that an individual's decision to stay put or migrate depends on the difference between the political preferences of groups and the change in tax. Empirically, we use the case of...

We investigate the consequences of a peaceful shift of power from one social group to another. Theoretically, we show that an individual's decision to stay put or migrate depends on the difference between the political preferences of groups and the change in tax. Empirically, we use the case of...

This paper analyzes whether the propensity to secede by subnational regions responds mostly to differences in income per capita or to distinct identities. We explore this question in a quantitative political economy model where people's willingness to finance a public good depends on their...

This paper analyzes whether the propensity to secede by subnational regions responds mostly to differences in income per capita or to distinct identities. We explore this question in a quantitative political economy model where people's willingness to finance a public good depends on their...

This paper analyzes whether the propensity to secede by subnational regions responds mostly to differences in income per capita or to distinct identities. We explore this question in a quantitative political economy model where people's willingness to finance a public good depends on their...

This paper analyzes whether the propensity to secede by subnational regions responds mostly to differences in income per capita or to distinct identities. We explore this question in a quantitative political economy model where people's willingness to finance a public good depends on their...

Trade liberalization and political separatism go hand in hand. In a world of trade restrictions, large countries enjoy economic benefits because political boundaries determine the size of the market. In a world of free trade and global markets even relatively small cultural, linguistic or ethnic...

Although regional resources have been shown to influence secessionist conflicts in developing countries, their effect in established democracies has largely been neglected. We integrate regional resource value and inter-regional transfers in a model on the optimal size of nations, and show that...

The vast majority of federations lack exit clauses. Existing theoretical explanations of this stylized fact focus on issues of credible commitment, signaling, and the risk of strategic exploitation. However, such accounts are unable to explain the adoption by the European Union (EU) of Article...

"Since the 2007-9 financial crash and its aftershocks, international capitalism has once again been in crisis. In politics, social structure, the economy, culture and ideology, Western democracies seem to be fragmenting. Yet this crisis has been particularly marked in the UK, and its outcome is...

This chapter addresses the normative and spatial dimensions of sovereignty in a society characterized by cultural diversity, social fragmentation, and ideological conflict. The thesis of this chapter is that in mediating these tensions, decision makers and the courts often use the 'ethics of...

In the racially tense late 1960s, Kinloch Missouri was a politically autonomous Black community of nearly 10,000 residents, composed of African-Americans who were free to plan and conduct their own municipal affairs by whatever means they chose to try and improve their conditions. The town was...

What determines the rejection of exogenously imposed institutions? To address this question, we exploit the transplantation of institutions that occurred when southern Italy was annexed to Piedmont, during the Italian unification process of the 1860s. We assemble a novel dataset on episodes of...

This paper investigates one of the most important financial issues arising from a secession or a country partitioning namely the sharing of the national public debt. Extending Dreze's distributive neutrality condition, we use the generational accounting technique and propose a dynamic...

Historically, dissolutions of currency unions are not unusual. I use an annual panel data set covering 245 country pairs that use a common currency (of which 128 are dissolved) from 1948 through 1997 to characterize currency union exits. I find that departures from a currency union tend to occur...