State Capacity, Property Rights, and External Revenues: Haiti, 1932-1949

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Utah System of Higher Education; Utah State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050723000220
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 709-746
• 关键词: fiscal capacity; taxation; LAND; CONFLICT

摘要

External revenues blunt investments in fiscal capacity. But how do external revenues affect investments in legal capacity? In a simple model of state capacity investment, external revenues should be positively correlated with investments in legal capacity. But this implication could flip if fiscal capacity lowers the cost of legal capacity investments. I test the model by looking at Haiti in 1942 when U.S. mobilization caused a negative shock to external revenues. Contrary to the basic model, the shock led to an increase in legal capacity. This puzzle is explained by institutions that tied fiscal and legal capacity investments.