Project description
How strong states drive economic growth
Strong and effective states are the backbone of economic development, yet many countries still struggle to build the institutions needed to raise revenue, deliver public goods, and curb corruption. Understanding how states develop these capacities over time can offer valuable lessons for today’s policymakers. The ERC-funded STATE-DEV project explores how state capacity evolves by analysing historical data from Italy and the United States during a period of expansion between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The project examines what drives citizens’ demand for stronger governance, how bureaucratic leaders shape state effectiveness, and how corruption and public-private links influence economic growth. The project seeks to explain what helps states thrive.
Objective
State capacity — the ability of the state to raise revenue and provide public goods — is considered essential for economic development. This ability is still lacking in many developing countries today, and important lessons can be drawn from countries that have been successful in developing an effective state in the past.
The over-arching goal of STATE-DEV is to advance our understanding of the development of state capacity, with particular emphasis on three essential pillars: 1) the drivers of demand for state capacity; 2) the quality of the state's bureaucracy, a crucial element of the supply side of state capacity; 3) the institutional elements that facilitate or hinder corruption in the operations of the state.
To reach this goal, I undergo large data collection efforts to assemble groundbreaking new data mapping the presence of the state across space and time in two historical settings – Italy and the United States between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century – characterized by a rapid growth in the size and reach of the state. By leveraging historical natural experiments, the proposal establishes causal relationships and sheds light on the mechanisms shaping the evolution of state capacity over a long time horizon.
STATE-DEV is composed of three projects. Project 1 investigates the factors affecting citizens’ demand for more state presence in their community, focusing on the role of technological change and of immigration. Project 2 studies the impacts of individual bureaucratic leaders on the evolution of state capacity and economic development. Project 3 analyses the effects of the revolving door between the bureaucracy and the private sector on firms’ dynamics in the short and long run.
STATE-DEV speaks to economists, political scientists and historians, and wants to inform important public debates about the conditions enabling the development of an effective state, and its impact on economic development.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences political sciences public administration bureaucracy
- social sciences other social sciences development studies development economics
- social sciences sociology demography human migrations
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20136 Milano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.