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The Market for Protection and the Origin of the StateKai A. KonradMax Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance; Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Stergios SkaperdasUniversity of California - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research) October 2005 CESifo Working Paper Series No. 1578 Abstract: We examine a stark setting in which security or protection can be provided by self-governing groups or by for-profit entrepreneurs (kings, kleptocrats, or mafia dons). Though self-governance is best for the population, it faces problems of long-term viability. Typically, in providing security the equilibrium market structure involves competing lords, a condition that leads to a tragedy of coercion: all the savings from the provision of collective protection are dissipated and welfare can be as low as, or even lower than, in the absence of the state.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 34 Keywords: property rights, anarchy, government JEL Classification: D30, D70, H10 working papers seriesDate posted: November 21, 2005Suggested CitationContact Information
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