State predation in historical perspective: the case of Ottoman musadere practice during 1695-1839

ARSLANTAŞ Y., Pietri A., Vahabi M.

PUBLIC CHOICE, cilt.182, sa.3-4, ss.417-442, 2020 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 182 Sayı: 3-4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s11127-019-00700-9
  • Dergi Adı: PUBLIC CHOICE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, EconLit, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Administration Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.417-442
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Captive and fugitive assets, Confiscations, Fiscal System, Musadere, Ottoman Empire, Political Laffer curve, Predation, POLITICAL-ECONOMY, INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE, EMPIRE, CAPACITY, RISE
  • Anadolu Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This paper studies the practice of Musadere in the Ottoman Empire. Musadere refers to the expropriation of elites-often tax farmers or administrators-by the Sultan. This practice is interesting from both political economy and economic history perspectives as the Ottoman Empire continued to increase its reliance on it during the eighteenth century, a period when European states were investing in fiscal capacity and building bureaucratic tax systems. The main argument is that Sultans faced a "political Laffer curve:" if revenue is too low, the state collapses; if fiscal extraction is too high there is a rebellion and the Sultan risks losing power. While expropriations (musadere) allow the Sultan to keep taxes low, they are vulnerable to provoking elites to invest in fugitive rather than (more productive) captive assets. We also show that the Sultan is more prone to target politically strong elites when his fiscal capacity is low.