Weak tax capacity and targeting problems push developing states toward insulated governments.

Evidence

Part of the reason is that it is easier to collect taxes in more advanced industrial countries and also targeting towards the truly deserving is especially difficult. These considerations suggest that developing countries should adopt more insulated systems of government, since, in the language of our model they have a high k. — Philippe Aghion, Alberto Alesina, and Francesco Trebbi, Endogenous Political Institutions, 156

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘High k’ is the model’s insulation parameter — the passage itself glosses it as insulatated government, useful shorthand if the model resurfaces later.