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Fiscal Crisis and Institutional Change in the Ottoman Empire and France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Eliana Balla  and
Noel D. Johnson
Eliana Balla*
Affiliation:
Financial Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Baltimore Office, 502 South Sharp Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. E-mail: [email protected].
Noel D. Johnson*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, George Mason University, Enterprise Hall, MSN 3G4, Fairfax, VA 22030–4444. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Why is it that some countries adopted growth enhancing institutions earlier than others during the early modern period? We address this question through a comparative study of the evolution of French and Ottoman fiscal institutions. During the sixteenth century, both countries made extensive use of tax farming to collect revenue, however, uncertain property rights caused by fiscal pressure led to different paths of institutional change in each state. In France, tax collectors successfully overcame the collective action costs of imposing constraint on the king. In the Ottoman Empire, tax collectors faced prohibitive transaction costs to organizing in a similar manner.

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ARTICLES
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 809 - 845
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2009

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