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PERSISTENT STATES: LESSONS FOR SCOTTISH DEVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

Anton Muscatelli ,
Graeme Roy  and
Alex Trew Open the ORCID record for Alex Trew [Opens in a new window]
Anton Muscatelli
Affiliation:
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Graeme Roy
Affiliation:
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Alex Trew*
Affiliation:
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author. Email: alex.trew@glasgow.ac.uk
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Abstract

The equilibrium size of a nation state is, in part, the result of a trade-off between the gains from scale economies in the provision of public services and the costs of applying uniform policy to heterogeneous cultural, institutional and geographical fundamentals. Changes in such fundamentals can thus place pressure on states to reform over time. We consider this dynamic state formation process in the context of Scotland within the United Kingdom. First, we review the recent research in economic history on the persistence and evolution of such fundamentals. Second, we consider the history of Scotland both before and after the 1707 Act of Union in the light of that broader economic history literature. We conclude with some implications of fundamental persistence for current debates on the place of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

Keywords

Scotlandpersistencestate formationH77N43N44
Type
Scotland
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 260: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVOLUTION IN, AND SECESSION FROM, THE UK – PART ONE , Spring 2022 , pp. 51 - 63
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of National Institute Economic Review

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