I love international development, but if I could do it all over again I might return to my roots as a political/economic historian. In the meantime, David Stasavage (among others) lives out my fantasy research agenda in a new paper:
…why did the autonomous city eventually die out as a form of state organization in Europe? The conventional explanation is that autonomous cities were economic powerhouses, but they died out because they could not compete militarily against larger states. It is suggested that this was particularly the case after technological change led to high fixed costs in war fighting. A problem with this argument is that autonomous cities long held a financial advantage over larger territorial states when it came to fighting wars. The autonomous cities found it easier to gain access to credit and at lower rates of interest, a feature that undoubtedly helped aid in their survival.9 My findings in this article point to a more simple reason why autonomous cities may have died out; the political institutions that initially fostered growth ultimately led to economic stagnation.
24 Responses
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
Prince and Merchants – http://t.co/sCVGHz7Wm9 corroboration of Why Nations Fail theory of city states
Why did the city-state die out? http://t.co/rrwbOIBJXi
Why did the autonomous city eventually die out as a form of state organization in Europe? http://t.co/8lnBwD4O6Z
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
Princes and merchants: I love international development, but if I could do it all over again I might return to… http://t.co/GOuiYOsEyb
On the death of autonomous cities http://t.co/1yHQo0SliK (y0 @stefanpf)
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
City states die out because of exclusive political institutions // Princes and merchants – @cblatts http://t.co/0M4EvyZfRy
RT @fuller_brandon: Princes and Merchants or Why did autonomous cities die out? @cblatts points to recently published paper by @stasavage h…
Princes and Merchants or Why did autonomous cities die out? @cblatts points to recently published paper by @stasavage http://t.co/nbjPXGVoOl
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
@cblatts and @boixserra and I show that executive constraints predict little about future city-growth.
@cblatts Even if they grew less, I show small states failed less frequently than large http://t.co/y2wYBejEqH.
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
@cblatts I can’t open the link from your blog. :(
Stasavage finds autonomous city-states’ pop growth advantage diminished then disappeared with age http://t.co/cPmzm491nA HT @cblatts
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
@cblatts have you read this paper? http://t.co/0gsQDBAE1F makes related argument on survival of small states well into “territorial age”
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b
@cblatts I’m in Singapore, where govt officials yesterday talked of exactly this – how to avoid the fate of all previous city states.
RT @cblatts: Why did autonomous city states die? http://t.co/zRcVxjNV2b