We develop a theory of endogenous regimes transitions (with a focus on democratic consolidation), which emphasizes the role of political culture and of its interaction with political institutions. Political culture re?flects the extent of individual commitment across citizens to defend democracy...

We define and investigate a new class of measure-valued Markov chains by resorting to ideas formulated in Bayesian nonparametrics related to the Dirichlet process and the Gibbs sampler. Dependent random probability measures in this class are shown to be stationary and ergodic with respect to the...

The paper proposes a new nonparametric prior for two-dimensional vectors of survival functions (S1,S2). The definition we introduce is based on the notion of Lévy copula and it will be used to model, in a nonparametric Bayesian framework, two-sample survival data. Such an application will yield...

A Bayesian nonparametric methodology has been recently proposed in order to deal with the issue of prediction within species sampling problems. Such problems concern the evaluation, conditional on a sample of size n, of the species variety featured by an additional sample of size m. Genomic...

A random distribution function on the positive real line which belongs to the class of neutral to the right priors is defined. It corresponds to the superposition of independent beta processes at the cumulative hazard level. The definition is constructive and starts with a discrete time process...

We investigate how nondemocratic regimes use the military and how this can lead to the emergence of military dictatorships. Nondemocratic regimes need the use of force in order to remain in power, but this creates a political moral hazard problem; a strong military may not simply work as an...

Inefficiencies in the bureaucratic organization of the state are often viewed as important factors in retarding economic development. Why certain societies choose or end up with such inefficient organizations has received very little attention, however. In this paper, we present a simple theory...

This paper develops a model to analyze economic performance under different political regimes. An oligarchic society, where political power is in the hands of major producers, protects their property rights, but also tends to erect significant entry barriers against new entrepreneurs. Democracy,...

Inefficiencies in the bureaucratic organization of the state are often viewed as important factors in retarding economic development. Why certain societies choose or end up with such inefficient organizations has received very little attention, however. In this paper, we present a simple theory...