nep-evo New Economics Papers
on Evolutionary Economics
Issue of 2023‒01‒30
five papers chosen by
Matthew Baker
City University of New York

  1. The Economic Incentives of Cultural Transmission: Spatial Evidence from Naming Patterns across France By Yann Algan; Clément Malgouyres; Thierry Mayer; Mathias Thoenig
  2. Predicting trustworthiness across cultures: An experiment By Adam Zylbersztejn; Zakaria Babutsidze; Nobuyuki Hanaki
  3. Paddy and Prejudice: Evidence on the Agricultural Origins of Prejudice from China and 12 other Asian Societies By An Huang; Paulo Santos; Russell Smyth
  4. Religious Identity, Trust, Reciprocity, and Prosociality: Theory and Evidence By Sanjit Dhami; Mengxing Wei; Pavan Mamidi
  5. Cultural Roots of Entrepreneurship By Kleinhempel, Johannes; Klasing, Mariko; Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd

  1. By: Yann Algan (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Clément Malgouyres (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, IPP - Institut des politiques publiques); Thierry Mayer (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPII - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales - Centre d'analyse stratégique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Mathias Thoenig (UNIL - Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR)
    Abstract: This paper studies how economic incentives influence cultural transmission, using a crucial expression of cultural identity: Child naming decisions. Our focus is on Arabic versus Non-Arabic names given in France over the 2003-2007 period. Our model of cultural transmission features three determinants: (i) vertical (parental) cultural transmission culture; (ii) horizontal (neighborhood) influence; (iii) information on the economic penalty associated with Arabic names. We find that economic incentives largely influence naming choices: Would the parental expectation on the economic penalty be zero, the annual number of babies born with an Arabic name would be more than 50 percent larger.
    Keywords: Cultural Economics, Cultural Transmission, First Names, Social Interactions
    Date: 2021–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:spmain:halshs-03105274&r=evo
  2. By: Adam Zylbersztejn (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Zakaria Babutsidze (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur, OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Nobuyuki Hanaki (Osaka University [Osaka])
    Abstract: We contribute to the ongoing debate in the psychological literature on the role of thin slices of observable information in predicting others' social behavior, and its generalizability to cross-cultural interactions. We experimentally assess the degree to which subjects, drawn from culturally dierent populations (France and Japan), are able to predict strangers' trustworthiness based on a set of visual stimuli (mugshot pictures, neutral videos, loaded videos, all recorded in an additional French sample) under varying cultural distance to the target agent in the recording. Our main nding is that cultural distance is not detrimental for predicting trustworthiness in strangers, but that it may aect the perception of dierent components of communication in social interactions.
    Keywords: Trustworthiness, communication, hidden action game, cross-cultural comparison, laboratory experiment
    Date: 2021
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03432600&r=evo
  3. By: An Huang (Monash University); Paulo Santos (Monash University); Russell Smyth (Monash University)
    Abstract: This paper examines the role of agricultural technology, in the form of paddy rice cultivation, on contemporary levels of prejudice. Using environmental suitability for paddy as an instrumental variable, we find that people living in areas where paddy rice farming has been long practiced exhibit lower prejudice towards outgroup members. This relationship is mediated by greater exposure to markets and trade, itself derived from paddy’s higher land productivity, likely reflecting the opportunities for interpersonal contact created by markets. In contrast, the irrigation needs and high labour demands of paddy galvanize local cooperation, likely fostering prejudice directed to outsiders.
    Keywords: paddy rice, prejudice, market, contact hypothesis, group identity
    JEL: J15 N55 Z1
    Date: 2023–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2023-02&r=evo
  4. By: Sanjit Dhami; Mengxing Wei; Pavan Mamidi
    Abstract: We use the trust and the dictator games to explore the effects of religious identity on trust, trustworthiness, prosociality, and conditional reciprocity within a beliefs-based model. We provide a novel and rigorous theoretical model to derive the relevant predictions, which are then tested in pre-registered lab-in-the-field experiments from villages in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We find strong evidence of religious identity effects in the beliefs, and the chosen actions, for Hindu and Muslim subjects. Priming has little effect on Hindu subjects but it enhances religious polarization in beliefs and actions among Muslim subjects. There is taste-based discrimination but no statistical discrimination. All our underlying assumptions on beliefs, and their dependence on priming and identity are confirmed by the data, identifying a precise beliefs-based mechanism for the effects of religious identity. More religious subjects expect greater prosociality/reciprocity and often are more prosocial/reciprocal.
    Keywords: religious identity, trust, trustworthiness, prosociality, priming, conditional reciprocity
    JEL: C91 D01 D84 D91
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10147&r=evo
  5. By: Kleinhempel, Johannes; Klasing, Mariko; Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd
    Abstract: Does national culture influence entrepreneurship? Given that entrepreneurship and the economic, formal institutional, and cultural characteristics of nations are deeply intertwined and co-vary, it is difficult to isolate the effect of culture on entrepreneurship. In this study, we examine the self-employment choices of second-generation immigrants who were born, educated, and currently live in one country, but were raised by parents stemming from another country. We argue that entrepreneurship is influenced by durable, portable, and intergenerationally transmitted cultural imprints such that second-generation immigrants are more likely to become entrepreneurs if their parents originate from countries characterized by a strong entrepreneurial culture. Our multilevel analysis of two independent samples –65, 323 second-generation immigrants of 52 different ancestries who were born, raised, and live in the United States and 4, 165 second-generation immigrants of 31 ancestries in Europe– shows that entrepreneurial culture is positively associated with the likelihood that individuals are entrepreneurs. Our results are robust to alternative non-cultural explanations, such as differences in resource holdings, labor market discrimination, and direct parent-child linkages. Overall, our study highlights the durability, portability, and intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial culture as well as the profound impact of national culture on entrepreneurship.
    Keywords: Entrepreneurship, National culture, Cross-Cultural Studies
    JEL: A13 J24 J61 L26 M13 M16 O57 Z10 Z13
    Date: 2022–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115942&r=evo

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