Working Paper: NBER ID: w10037
Authors: Daron Acemoglu
Abstract: This paper develops a model where this is a trade-off between the enforcement of the property rights of different groups. An oligarchic' society, where political power is in the hands of major producers, protects their property rights, but also tends to erect significant entry barriers, violating the property rights of future producers. Democracy, where political power is more widely diffuesed, imposes redistributive taxes on the producers, but tends to avoid entry barriers. When taxes in democracy are high and the distortions caused by entry barriers are low, an oligarchic society achieves greater efficiency. Nevertheless, because comparative advantage in entreprenuership shifts away from the incumbents, the inefficiency created by entry barriers in oligarchy deteriorates over time. The typical pattern is therefore one of the rise and decline of oligarchic societies: of two otherwise identical societies, the one with an oligarchic organization will first become richer, but later fall behind the democratic society. I also discuss how democratic societies may be better able to take advantage of new technologies, and how the unequal distribution of income in an oligarchic society supports the oligarchic institutions and may keep them in place even when the become significantly costly to society.
Keywords: property rights; oligarchy; democracy; economic performance; political economy
JEL Codes: P16; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Oligarchic societies (P19) | Greater initial efficiency (H21) |
| Greater initial efficiency (H21) | Deterioration of efficiency over time (D24) |
| Oligarchic societies (P19) | Higher aggregate output (E23) |
| Higher aggregate output (E23) | Fall behind democracies (P27) |
| Democratic societies (D72) | Better adaptation to new technologies (O33) |
| Better adaptation to new technologies (O33) | Allow more productive agents to enter entrepreneurship (L26) |
| Dynamics of income distribution in oligarchic societies (D31) | Feedback loop supporting the status quo (E61) |
| Feedback loop supporting the status quo (E61) | Difficulty in regime change to democracy (O17) |
| Regime change to democracy (P39) | Economically advantageous outcomes (D61) |