Polity Atlas
Article

The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation, and Politics

Timothy Besley; Torsten Persson · American Economic Review 99(4), 1218–1244 · 2009

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Type
Article
Author
Timothy Besley; Torsten Persson
Identifier
DOI 10.1257/aer.99.4.1218
Accessed
2026-09-01

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DisputedUsing data on European states from 1100 to 1790, Abramson found that small political units persisted well into the age of the territorial state and argued that economic development and urban growth, rather than changes in war making, explain where large territorial states formed.