Table of Contents

1. Introduction: conflict and appropriation as economic activities Michelle R. Garfinkel and Stephen Skaperdas; 2. Anarchy and its breakdown Jack Hirshleifer; 3. Towards a model of territorial expansion and the limits of empire Ronald Findlay; 4. Production and predation Herschel I. Grossman and Minseong Kim; 5. Competitive trade with Conflict Stergios Skaperdas and Constantinos Syropoulos; 6. Increasing returns to politics in developing countries with endogenous protection in the Ricardo-Viner model Nakgyoon Choi and Stephen P. Magee; 7. Demosclerosis, or special interests 'r' us: an informational rationale for political gridlock Susanne Lohmann; 8. Deforestation, investment and political stability Robert T. Deacon; 9. Violence and the assignment of property rights on two Brazilian frontiers Lee J. Alston, Gary D. Libecap, and Robert Schneider.