Coen Teulings, Bas van Bavel, Bram van Besouw, 8 April 2024

CEPR Discussion Paper No. 18974

The protracted emergence of hierarchical government is most clearly epitomized in the shift from tribal societies to chiefdoms, the two archetypical forms of societal organization at either side of the emergence of hierarchy. To explain this shift, we present a model of individual production and violence between ex ante homogeneous players, and endogenous private monitoring. We show that coalition formation is essential for hierarchies to emerge and that power within coalitions depends on monopolizing information rather than violence capacities. Also, we highlight the limits of hierarchical chiefdoms competing against tribes and thus help explain why the shift was that protracted.