During the weekend, I received news that my article co-authored with Vadim Kufenko on the rebellions of Lower Canada during 1837-38 has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. The working paper (prior to revisions) is available here on SSRN and the (revised) abstract is available below. I will update the links when the early view version is available.
In 1837–38, the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada rebelled. The rebellion was more virulent (and better organized) in Lower Canada. The rebellions were also concentrated in the richer areas of that colony. In this paper, we use the census of 1831 and databases of rebellious events to explain how the rebels managed to overcome the problem of collective action. We argue that the rich areas were more prone to rebellion because they were where markets were most developed. These well-developed markets allowed for cheaper coordination of seditious elements. We link our contribution to the literature on the collective action problem inherent to the organization of protests, uprisings and rebellions.
Vincent Geloso 