French Revolution - Publications - Faculty & Research

2025
Working Paper

Extractive Taxation and the French Revolution

By: Tommaso Giommoni, Gabriel Loumeau and Marco Tabellini

We study the fiscal determinants of the French Revolution, exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the salt tax—a large source of royal revenues and one of the most extractive forms of taxation of the Ancien Régime. Implementing a Regression Discontinuity... View Details

Keywords: Extractive Taxation; Regime Change; French Revolution; State Capacity

Citation

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27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

In the decades prior to the advent of radial tires," writes Donald Sull in Business History Review, "Firestone Tire & Rubber was viewed by some observers as the best managed U.S. tire company." But in the face of French... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

16 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 16, 2010

economy quietly shifted their focus from market failure to government failure over the second half of the twentieth century, they set the stage for a revolution in both government and markets, the full ramifications of which are still... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

French manufacturing technology. The company has played a major role in America’s history. It sold gun powder during the 1812 war and dynamite to aid in the construction of canals and early roads. It pioneered the M-Form, or... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

revolution had turned perfume into a branded product, sold at different price points in different distribution channels, and increasingly gendered. While historically men and women had used the same scents, they now began to like to smell... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

09 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 9

the late twentieth century come to believe that more credit would make even poor families better off? This book traces the historical emergence of modern consumer lending in America and France. If Americans were profligate in their borrowing, the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Whatever Happened to Caveat Emptor?

efforts in Germany and France), consumers favor products that evolved slowly and are well engineered, while the French prefer style and innovation. These preferences are not just a matter of national DNA, but also reflect decisions made... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why the Internet Doesn’t Change Everything

In 1995, the Vatican dismissed an outspoken French bishop named Jacques Gaillot. Arguing that Gaillot had been far too liberal for the Church's doctrine, Vatican officials removed him from his diocese outside Paris and sent him to... View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

Michael French and Andrew Popp) We asked BHR coeditor Walter A. Friedman, whose book Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America has contributed to the literature, to help us understand why salesmen are again the subject... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

02 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Role of Government When All Else Fails

has increased, we are now in a better position to address it than we once were. Finally, it seems almost certain that the information revolution we are now experiencing will influence the way that government manages risk in the future.... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

15 Mar 2016
First Look

March 15, 2016

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50752 Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France By: Braconnier, Celine, Jean-Yves Dormagen, and Vincent Pons Abstract—A large-scale randomized experiment conducted... View Details

11 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 11, 2018

help to become part of the commercial food system. In this book, Ray Goldberg interviews the change makers of today's food system: leaders and constructive critics in government, private industry, nonprofits, and academia who provide a panoramic and in-depth look at a... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

07 Nov 2011
Research & Ideas

The Forgotten Book that Helped Shape the Modern Economy

original. Cary's 1695 Essay had indeed been cumulatively translated three times (into French in 1755, Italian in 1757-58, and German in 1788). The Italian and German translators never even returned to the original English edition, and the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

11 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 11, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=107083 BT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (B) Harvard Business School Supplement 407-002 Supplements the (A) case. Purchase this supplement:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Six Steps for Reinvigorating America

innovation and the opportunity to participate in the "white coat" economy and life sciences revolution of the 21st century. Writes a new social contract based on real family values, creating fair and flexible workplaces that are... View Details