Previous research shows that wars contributed to the expansion of state revenues in the Early Modern period and in the twentieth century. There are, however, few cross-national studies on the long nineteenth century. Using new annual data on wars and public revenues from 1816 to 1913 for 27 American and European countries, this article provides new evidence that military conflicts very rarely triggered lasting increases in public revenues during those years. The authors argue that this was due to the uneven diffusion of military innovations at the time, as it meant that few wars were sufficiently intense to push rulers to seek additional resources.
Authors:
Agustín Goenaga (Lund University)
Oriol Sabaté (University of Barcelona)
Jan Teorell (Stockholm University)
Title on the publication:
The state does not live by warfare alone: War and revenue in the long nineteenth century
Link to the publication: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11558-022-09477-x