We study how the organization of the state evolves over the process of development of a
nation, using a new dataset on the internal organization of the US federal bureaucracy over …

During the past two decades, several factors have challenged the stability of na-tional states,
adding tensions to the connection between the state and the individual. This paper reviews …

This paper shows that in the Spanish Empire, personal connections between the Council of
the Indies (principals) and colonial audiencias (agents) played a crucial role in mitigating …

We investigate the persistent impact of a colonial segregation policy on land values in
modern Mexico City. During colonial times, Indigenous communities were confined, with …

Some of the finest literary minds of the continent can help us approach the problem of
historical persistence in Latin America. Mexican Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, quoted …

We develop a framework that examines the organizational challenges faced by central
rulers governing large territories, where administrative power needs to be delegated to local …

This article reviews the recent burgeoning political economics research on nation-building.
We focus on three main aspects of this body of work. First, we discuss methodological issues …

This paper examines the persistent effects of Crown versus settler colonialism. Exploiting a
spatial regression discontinuity design in Mexico, I document that regions where the relative …

This essay surveys both the traditional findings and new debates that have used the
Spanish imperial royal financial accounts to analyze the colonial economy and government …

A key challenge to state-building in conflict-prone societies is the proliferation of
autonomous armed groups. As governments seek to enhance their monopoly over violence …