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Paola Giuliano on the origins and persistence of gender roles

Paola Giuliano at briq, August 31, 2018

A recent strand of the economics literature tried to understand the origin of cultural norms and beliefs. Different studies have documented the continuity of cultural norms over remarkably long periods of time.

In her first of two lectures she recently gave at briq, Paola Giuliano (UCLA Anderson School of Management) reviewed work on the origin of differences in gender norms, with particular emphasis on differences in agricultural technologies. Look to history and you will find plenty of examples of farming communities where women worked as much as men. But in plough-intensive societies, where cultivation and planting relied on physical strength, men were the primary farmers. Today many of these societies still show the same division of labor.

Paola Giuliano reviewed her work which shows that at present the descendants of societies that traditionally practiced plough agriculture have lower rates of female participation in the workplace, in politics and in entrepreneurial activities, as well as greater prevalence of attitudes favoring gender inequality, and even a higher male-to-female sex ratio in every age group.

In the same lecture she more broadly reviewed the most recent empirical evidence on various historical determinants of contemporary difference in gender roles and how these differences are transmitted from parents to children and therefore persist until today. This included work on female labor force participation, fertility, education, marriage arrangements, competitive attitude and even domestic violence.

Although cultural beliefs can be quite persistent, there are also many examples of dramatic changes. This raises the natural question: When does culture change and does it persist? In particular, what determines a society’s willingness to adopt new customs and beliefs rather than hold on to traditions?

In her second lecture, Paola examined a determinant that has been put forth in the anthropology literature to answer this question: the variability of the environment from one generation to the next. She shows that populations with ancestors who lived in an environment with more stability from one generation to the next not only place a greater importance on maintaining tradition today, but they also exhibit more persistence in their traditions over time.

Three questions with Ran Spiegler

Ran Spiegler explores what happens when people confuse the concepts of correlation and causation. In his research he aims at bringing behavioral economics and economic theory closer together. This video was made during his research visit at briq in the fall of 2017.

Armin Falk receives Felix Büchel Award 2018

At the 13th International SOEP User Conference, the seventh Felix Büchel Award was presented to Armin Falk. After previous awards went to economists, a psychologist, a political scientist, and a sociologist, this is the first time that an economist working in the field of experimental economics receives the prize.

Armin Falk (left) and Constantin Terton

The award includes a 1,000 € cash prize and an invitation to deliver the keynote at the SOEP conference, which Armin Falk gave on “Global Evidence on Economic Preferences”. The prize certificate was conferred by Constantin Terton of IHK Berlin, who represented the award sponsor, the Society of Friends of the DIW Berlin (VdF).

Excerpt from the prize statement:

Armin Falk’s research deals with the psychological foundations of economic behavior. He has shown, for instance, that attempting to monitor and control employees may be less effective than trusting them. He has proven that alongside self-interest, social comparisons are an important aspect of human behavior, and that people reward fairness. In past award presentations, it has been noted that Armin Falk’s findings have significant implications for basic economic research as well as important practical applications. In other words: Armin Falk’s work represents knowledge transfer at its best. His findings aim at improving the explanatory power of economic models and have provided the basis for empirically well-founded economic policy.

In a number of field and laboratory experiments, Armin Falk has tested what motivations drive people’s behavior in different economic situations. In his work, he is not afraid to combine methodologies from life sciences with data from surveys or experiments.

[more on the DIW homepage]

Michal Bauer on nasty behavior in groups

Economic theories often focus on the decisions of individuals, despite the fact that many important commercial, political and social decisions are made by groups of people. How do individuals and groups differ in their decision-making processes and what are the wider consequences of this group interaction?

Michal Bauer (CERGE-EI) tackles this issue through his research in the fields of development microeconomics, experimental economics and behavioral economics. His recent work has focused on the causes and consequences of group conflict, discrimination and the formation of preferences. In July he presented two lectures at briq in which he discussed measuring attention in the field to better understand discrimination and poverty, and the sources of “nasty behavior” in groups.

The presentation covered a recent field experiment conducted in Uganda and Slovakia in order to test selfish and anti-social behavior of individuals and groups. Consistent with previous research, it was found that groups are much less likely to display cooperative behavior than individuals. The study also revealed that groups are more likely to also act anti-socially, by punishing outsiders even when it is costly to themselves. The group context also made people much more aggressively competitive.

The greater nastiness of groups arises almost exclusively due to the psychological effect of being a part of a group on individual preferences, rather than due to deliberation and joint decision-making among group members. Strikingly similar patterns on both continents suggest that the elevation of the dark side of human social motivations is a deeply rooted behavioral response when individuals are banded in a group. The findings have implications for economic theory and can help explain the prevalence of self-destructive group conflicts.

Three questions with Sandro Ambuehl

People sometimes harm themselves or others by making irrational decisions. But how much paternalism do we need and want? And how do policymakers or economists know what choices are best for us? These are some of the questions that motivate Sandro Ambuehl’s research. This video was made during his research visit at briq in the fall of 2017.

Three questions with Simon Jäger

A puzzle in standard economics – why would the same worker be paid different wages depending on the firm he or she is employed by? Simon Jäger discusses his interest in the role that firms play in determining wages and shaping inequality. This video was made while Simon was a Postdoctoral Researcher at briq in the summer of 2017.