The Origins of Democracy: A Model with Application to Ancient Greece
构建理论模型，说明外部经济条件如何影响建立民主制度的激励，并用古希腊城邦的案例验证模型预测，对研究制度起源的学者有参考价值。
This paper seeks to provide an improved understanding of the origins of democracy. It begins by developing a theoretical model to demonstrate how exogenous economic conditions can influence the incentives to establish democratic institutions. The model predicts that democratic institutions will expand where they mitigate important time‐inconsistency problems and, therefore, encourage investment. Exogenous conditions determine the magnitude of those time‐inconsistency problems and, hence, the likelihood of democracy. A comparison of ancient Greek city‐states suggests that the conditions under which democracy first emerged support the model. Other potential applications are discussed.