Coercive Redistribution, Factor Mobility, and State Forms: A General Political Economy Model Based on Class Attributes

26 May 2026, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed at the time of posting.

Abstract

This paper constructs a unified political economy framework to explain factor mobility barriers and income inequality across state forms. We introduce the "tax-eater," a rational agent possessing coercive redistribution capacity, and combine it with class attributes of the bourgeoisie and laborers to define four ideal types: Bonapartism, capitalism, dictatorship of the proletariat, and association of free individuals. Using a Cobb–Douglas production function with Stackelberg and Cournot game equilibria, the model demonstrates that: (1) international factor immobility stems from domestic classes' resistance to marginal product dilution and the tax-eater's coercive capacity; (2) with differential tax-setting power, a pure bourgeoisie cannot survive long-run equilibrium—the tax-eater itself becomes the primary agent of accumulation; (3) a downward-sloping labor supply curve generates an endogenous exploitation trap, locking workers' utility at subsistence threshold while technological progress merely augments tax-eater income. This framework provides micro-foundations for re-examining state capacity, class differentiation, and economic efficiency.

Keywords

exploitation
state forms
class game
barriers to factor mobility
tax-eater
Cobb–Douglas production function

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