The Causes and Consequences of Development Clusters: State Capacity, Peace, and Income*
Abstract
Three important aspects of development—per capita income, state capabilities, and (the absence of) political violence—are correlated with each other at the country level. This article discusses the causes of such development clusters and highlights two explanations: common economic, political, and social drivers and complementarities (two-way positive feedbacks). It also draws out preliminary policy implications of these patterns of development and proposes topics for further research.
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A government's capacity to exercise territorial control also depends on state income.
“Here political and economic factors connect, as a government's capacity to exercise territorial control also depends on state income (122).”
From Vicious Circles: Violence, Vulnerability, and Climate Change (2021) · cites this paper as [122]
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- Authors
- Besley, T., & Persson, T.
- Affiliations
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CA)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Economics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2014-08-02
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 927-949
- ISSN
- 1941-1383 (ISSN-L)
- 1941-1391
- OpenAlex
- W2146223805
- Cited by
- 104
- References
- 80
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Economics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Growth and Productivity
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Keywords
- state capacity, peace, per capita income, political violence, positive feedback, economic growth determinants, political development, development policy
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