The Economic Origins of Government
Robert C. Allen, Mattia C. Bertazzini, Leander Heldring
American Economic Review · 2023 · Volume 113 · Issue 10
Abstract
We test between cooperative and extractive theories of the origins of government. We use river shifts in southern Iraq as a natural experiment, in a new archeological panel dataset. A shift away creates a local demand for a government to coordinate because private river irrigation needs to be replaced with public canals. It disincentivizes local extraction as land is no longer productive without irrigation. Consistent with a cooperative theory of government, a river shift away led to state formation, canal construction, and the payment of tribute. We argue that the first governments coordinated between extended households which implemented public good provision.
Keywords
Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior, Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government, Public Goods, Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Asia including Middle East, Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: Asia including Middle East, Land Ownership and Tenure, Land Reform, Land Use, Irrigation, Agriculture and Environment
Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.