Different types of economic shocks hit countries periodically. Recent examples include the global financial crisis or the exposure to trade with China. The ability to respond to these shocks depends, among others, on government quality: countries with more accountable governments and/or with higher state capacity enact faster and more effective policies. Crisis might also affect government quality: increasing government fragmentation and polarization, and affecting the selection of politicians or political norms and institutional legitimacy. Crisis might also foster nationalism and lead to political disintegration, as exemplified by the recent rise of secessionism or by the crisis of the European Union.

The workshop will focus on the interplay between economic shocks, government quality and the vertical structure of government. Papers on the causes and consequences of government quality, the political economy of secessionism and political unions, and the political economy of federalism and local government in general are also welcome.