Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T22:40:29.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Desertion as theft

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2019

Ennio E. Piano  and
Louis Rouanet
Ennio E. Piano*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA
Louis Rouanet
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, George Mason University, Fairfax, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: Epiano@gmu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

To be effective, an army must contain the extent of desertion among its ranks. This phenomenon rose to particular prominence in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, with the appearance of the figure of the “citizen-soldier” on the battlefield. This paper offers the first theoretical treatment of the issue of desertion from an economic perspective. Building on the work of Yoram Barzel on the “economic analysis of property rights,” we develop a “desertion as theft” framework. We then test the empirical implications of the framework against qualitative and quantitative evidence from Napoleonic France.

Keywords

Desertioneconomic analysis of property rightsYoram Barzeleconomics of theft
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 16 , Special Issue 2: Honour of Yoram Barzel , April 2020 , pp. 169 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agostini, T. (2007), ‘“Deserted His Majesty's Service”: Military Runaways, the British-American Press, and the Problem of Desertion During the Seven Years' War’, Journal of Social History, 40(4): 957–985.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. (1990), ‘An Inquiry into the State's Role in Marriage’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 13(2): 171–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allen, Douglas W. (1991), ‘What are Transaction Costs?’ Research in Law and Economics, 14, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. (1995), ‘Order in the Church: A Property Rights Approach’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1): 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. (1998), ‘Compatible Incentives and the Purchase of Military Commissions’, Journal of Legal Studies, 27(1): 45–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. (2002), ‘The British Navy Rules: Monitoring and Incompatible Incentives in the Age of Fighting Sail’, Explorations in Economic History, 39(2): 204–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. (2015), ‘On Hodgson on Property Rights’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 11(4): 711–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, D. W. and Leeson, P. T. (2015), ‘Institutionally Constrained Technology Adoption: Resolving the Longbow Puzzle’, Journal of Law and Economics, 58(3): 683–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barzel, Y. (1977), ‘An Economic Analysis of Slavery’, Journal of Law and Economics, 20(1): 87–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barzel, Y. (1997), Economic Analysis of Property Rights, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barzel, Y. (2002), A Theory of the State: Economic Rights, Legal Rights, and the Scope of the State, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Barzel, Y. (2015), ‘What Are “Property Rights”, And Why Do They Matter? A Comment on Hodgson's Article’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 11(4): 719–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G. S. (1968), ‘Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach’, Journal of Political Economy, 76(2): 169–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, G. and Tullock, G. (1982), ‘An Economic Theory of Military Tactics: Methodological Individualism at War’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 3(2–3): 225–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chabert, A. (1949), Essai Sur les Mouvements des Revenus et de l'Activité Economique en France de 1798 à 1820, Paris, France: Genin.Google Scholar
Cheung, S. N. (1983), ‘The Contractual Nature of the Firm’, Journal of Law and Economics, 26(1): 1–21.Google Scholar
Costa, D. L. and Kahn, M. E. (2010), Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Forrest, A. I. (1989), Conscripts and Deserters: The Army and French Society during the Revolution and Empire, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fouché, J. (1908), La Police Secrète du Premier Empire: Bulletins Quotidiens Adressés par Fouché à l'Empereur (Vol. 2), Paris, France: Perrin.Google Scholar
Frey, B. S. and Buhofer, H. (1988), ‘Prisoners and Property Rights’, Journal of Law and Economics, 31(1): 19–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, D. D. (1986), Price Theory: An Intermediate Text, Nashville, TN: Southwestern Publishing.Google Scholar
Grab, A. (1995), ‘Army, State, and Society: Conscription and Desertion in Napoleonic Italy (1802–1814)’, Journal of Modern History, 67(1): 25–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halle, P. de la (1803), Statistique Générale et Particulière de la France et de Ses Colonies, Paris, France: Buisson.Google Scholar
Hodgson, G. M. (2015), ‘Much of the “Economics of Property Rights” Devalues Property and Legal Rights’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 11(4): 683–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R. N. and Libecap, G. D. (1982), ‘Contracting Problems and Regulation: The Case of the Fishery’, American Economic Review, 72(5): 1005–1022.Google Scholar
Lee, D. R. and McKenzie, R. B. (1992), ‘Reexamination of the Relative Efficiency of the Draft and the All-volunteer Army’, Southern Economic Journal, 58(3): 644–654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeson, P. T. (2007), ‘An-arrgh-chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization’, Journal of Political Economy, 115(6): 1049–1094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeson, P. T. (2009), ‘The Invisible Hook: The Law and Economics of Pirate Tolerance’, New York University Journal of Law and Liberty, 4, 139.Google Scholar
Leeson, P. T. (2010), ‘Pirational Choice: The Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 76(3): 497–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeson, P. T. (2012a), ‘Ordeals’, Journal of Law and Economics, 55(3): 691–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeson, P. T. (2012b), ‘“God Damn”: The Law and Economics of Monastic Malediction’, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, 30(1): 193–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Mée, R. (1971), ‘Population Agglomérée, Population Eparse au Début du XIXe Siècle’, in Annales de démographie historique, Paris, France: Société de Démographie Historique, pp. 455–510.Google Scholar
Linch, K. (2016), ‘Desertion from the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars’, Journal of Social History, 49(4): 808–828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Military Dictionary (1780), A military dictionary, explaining and describing the technical terms, works and machines used in the science of war. Dublin: Office of C. Jackson.Google Scholar
Napoléon, I (1858–1870), Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, 30 volumes. Paris, France: Plon.Google Scholar
Nüssli, C. and Nüssli, M. A. (2008), Georeferenced Historical Vector Data, Paris, France: Euratlas.Google Scholar
Piano, E. E. (2017), ‘Free Riders: The Economics and Organization of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs’, Public Choice, 171(3–4): 283–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piano, E. E. (2018), ‘Outlaw and Economics: Biker Gangs and Club Goods’, Rationality and Society, 30(3): 350–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prudhomme, L. M. (1804), Dictionnaire Universel, Géographique, Statistique, Historique et Politique de la France. Paris, France: Baudouin.Google Scholar
Ross, T. W. (1994), ‘Raising an Army: A Positive Theory of Military Recruitment’, Journal of Law and Economics, 37(1), 109–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rouanet, L. and Piano, E. E. (2019), ‘Filling the Ranks: The Remplacement Militaire in Post-Revolutionary France’, Mimeo, available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3294 (accessed 10 May 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tullock, G. (1967), ‘The Welfare Costs of Tariffs, Monopolies, and Theft’, Economic Inquiry, 5(3): 224–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallée, G. (1937), Compte Général de la Conscription de A. A. Hargenvilliers, publié d'après le manuscrit original avec une introduction et des notes, Paris, France: Librairie du Recueil Sirey.Google Scholar
Viard, P. (1926), ‘Études Sur la Conscription Militaire Napoléonienne’, Revue du Nord, 12(48): 273–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vosgien (1809), Dictionnaire Géographique Portatif, Paris, France: Leroy.Google Scholar
Waquet, J. (1968), ‘La société civile devant l'insoumission et la désertion: à l'époque de la conscription militaire (1798–1814) d'après la correspondance du ministre de l'intérieur’, Bibliothèque de l’École des chartes, 187–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodbury, E. N. (1921), ‘Causes for Military Desertion: A Study in Criminal Motives’, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 12(2): 213–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar