Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States

Inspired By The New Fiscal History, This Book Represents The First Global Survey Of Taxation In The Premodern World. What Emerges Is A Rich Variety Of Institutions, Including Experiments With Sophisticated Instruments Such As Sovereign Debt And Fiduciary Money, Challenging The Notion Of A Typical Premodern Stage Of Fiscal Development. The Studies Also Reveal Patterns And Correlations Across Widely Dispersed Societies That Shed Light On The Basic Factors Driving The Intensification, Abatement, And Innovation Of Fiscal Regimes. Twenty Scholars Have Contributed Perspectives From A Wide Range Of Fields Besides History, Including Anthropology, Economics, Political Science And Sociology. The Volume's Coverage Extends Beyond Europe, The Mediterranean, And The Near East To East Asia And The Americas, Thereby Transcending The Eurocentric Approach Of Most Scholarship On Fiscal History.-- Introduction : Studying Fiscal Regimes / Andrew Monson And Walter Scheidel -- Diversity And Commonalities In Early Extraction Regimes. The Inka Empire / Terence N. D'altroy ; The Aztec Empire / Michael E. Smith ; The Ancient Near East And Egypt / Michael Jursa And Juan Carlos Moreno García -- Determinants Of Intensification And Abatement. Hellenistic Empires / Andrew Monson ; The Roman Republic / James Tan ; The Early Roman Monarchy / Walter Scheidel ; The Later Roman Empire / Gilles Bransbourg ; Early Imperial China, From The Qin And Han Through Tang / Mark E. Lewis ; Imperial China Under The Song And Late Qing / Kent Gang Deng -- Divergent Trends Among Established Regimes. Late Rome, Byzantium, And Early Medieval Western Europe / John Haldon ; The Middle East In Islamic Late Antiquity / Hugh Kennedy ; The Ottoman Empire / Metin M. Coşgel ; Early Modern Japan / Philip C. Brown -- Fragmented Political Ecologies And Institutional Innovation. The Greek Polis And Koinon / Emily Mackil ; Classical Athens / Josiah Ober ; Why Did Public Debt Originate In Europe? / David Stasavage -- Comparative Perspectives And New Frontiers. Tributary Empires And The New Fiscal Sociology : Some Comparative Reflections / Peter F. Bang ; Interpreting The Comparative History Of Fiscal Regimes / Edgar Kiser And Margaret Levi. Edited By Andrew Monson And Walter Scheidel. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Inspired by the new fiscal history, this book represents the first global survey of taxation in the premodern world. It introduces new theoretical and comparative approaches from the social sciences and extends its coverage beyond Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East to East Asia and the Americas.