Princes and Merchants: European City Growth before the Industrial Revolution
Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: As measured by the pace of city growth in western Europe from 1000 to 1800. absolutist monarchs stunted the growth of commerce and industry. A region ruled by an absolutist prince saw its total urban population shrink by one hundred thousand people per century relative to a region without absolutist government. This might be explained by higher rates of taxation under revenue-maximizing absolutist governments than under non-absolutist governments. which care more about general economic prosperity and less about State revenue.
Source: The Journal of Law and Economics
DOI: 10.1086/467294
Authors: J. Bradford De Long, Andrei Shleifer
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3124889162