nep-evo New Economics Papers
on Evolutionary Economics
Issue of 2022‒07‒18
six papers chosen by
Matthew Baker
City University of New York

  1. Millet, Rice, and Isolation: Origins and Persistence of the World's Most Enduring Mega-State By Kung, James Kai-sing; Özak, Ömer; Putterman, Louis; Shi, Shuang
  2. Trading Social Status for Genetics in Marriage Markets: Evidence from UK Biobank By Abdel Abdellaoui; Oana Borcan; Pierre Chiappori; David Hugh-Jones
  3. Discrimination in Heterogeneous Games By Annick Laruelle; Andr\'e Rocha
  4. Cliometrics and the Future of Economic History By Claude Diebolt; Michael Haupert
  5. Innovation across cultures: connecting leadership, identification, and creative behavior in organizations By Bracht, Eva; Monzani, Lucas; Boer, Diana; Haslam, S. Alexander; Kerschreiter, Rudolf; Lemoine, Jérémy E.; Steffens, Niklas K.; Akfirat, Serap Arslan; Avanzi, Lorenzo; Barghi, Bita; Dumont, Kitty; Edelmann, Charlotte M.; Epitropaki, Olga; Fransen, Katrien; Giessner, Steffen R.; Gleibs, Ilka H.; González, Roberto; Laguia Gonzalez, Ana; Lipponen, Jukka; Markovits, Yannis; Molero, Fernando; Moriano, Juan A.; Neves, Pedro; Orosz, Gábor; Roland-Lévy, Christine; Schuh, Sebastian; Sekiguchi, Tomoki; Jiwen Song, Lynda; S. P. Story, Joana; Stouten, Jeroen; Tatachari, Srinivasan; Valdenegro, Daniel; van Bunderen, Lisanne; Vörös, Viktor; Wong, Sut I; Youssef, Farida; Zhang, Xin-an; van Dick, Rolf
  6. The Slippery Slope from Pluralistic to Plural Societies By Nicola Campigotto; Chiara Rapallini; Aldo Rustichini

  1. By: Kung, James Kai-sing (City University of Hong Kong); Özak, Ömer (Southern Methodist University); Putterman, Louis (Brown University); Shi, Shuang (City University of Hong Kong)
    Abstract: We propose and test empirically a theory describing the endogenous formation and persistence of mega-states, using China as an example. We suggest that the relative timing of the emergence of agricultural societies, and their distance from each other, set off a race between their autochthonous state-building projects, which determines their extent and persistence. Using a novel dataset describing the historical presence of Chinese states, prehistoric development, the diffusion of agriculture, and migratory distance across 1° × 1° grid cells in eastern Asia, we find that cells that adopted agriculture earlier and were close to Erlitou – the earliest political center in eastern Asia – remained under Chinese control for longer and continue to be a part of China today. By contrast, cells that adopted agriculture early and were located further from Erlitou developed into independent states, as agriculture provided the fertile ground for state-formation, while isolation provided time for them to develop and confront the expanding Chinese empire. Our study sheds important light on why eastern Asia kept reproducing a mega-state in the area that became China and on the determinants of its borders with other states.
    Keywords: state, agriculture, isolation, social complexity, stickiness to China, Erlitou, East Asia
    JEL: F50 F59 H70 H79 N90 O10 R10 Z10 Z13
    Date: 2022–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15348&r=
  2. By: Abdel Abdellaoui (Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam); Oana Borcan (School of Economics, University of East Anglia); Pierre Chiappori (Department of Economics, University of Columbia); David Hugh-Jones (School of Economics, University of East Anglia)
    Abstract: If socio-economic status (SES) and genetic variants are both assets in marriage markets, then the two will become associated in spouse pairs, and will be passed on together to future generations. This process provides a new explanation for the surprising persistence of inequality across generations, and for the genes-SES gradient: the genetic differences we observe between high- and low-income people. The gradient includes differences related to human capital and to physical and mental health, so understanding its origins is important for understanding inequality in general, and health inequalities in particular. We model social-genetic assortative mating (SGAM) and test for its existence in a large genetically-informed survey. We compare spouses of individuals with different birth order, which is known to affect socio-economic status and which is exogenous to own genetic endowments among siblings. Spouses of earlier-born individuals have genetic variants that predict higher educational attainment. We provide evidence that this effect is mediated by individuals’ own educational attainment and income. Thus, environmental shocks to socio-economic status are reflected in the DNA of subsequent generations. Our work uncovers a new channel by which economic institutions can affect long-run inequality; suggests that genes-SES gradients may be historically widespread; and shows that genetic variation is endogenous to social institutions.
    Date: 2022–06–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:ueaeco:2022-04&r=
  3. By: Annick Laruelle; Andr\'e Rocha
    Abstract: In this paper, we consider coordination and anti-coordination heterogeneous games played by a finite population formed by different types of individuals who fail to recognize their own type but do observe the type of their opponent. We show that there exists symmetric Nash equilibria in which players discriminate by acting differently according to the type of opponent that they face in anti-coordination games, while no such equilibrium exists in coordination games. Moreover, discrimination has a limit: the maximum number of groups where the treatment differs is three. We then discuss the theoretical results in light of the observed behavior of people in some specific psychological contexts.
    Date: 2022–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2206.05087&r=
  4. By: Claude Diebolt (BETA/CNRS (UMR 7522), University of Strasbourg, 61 avenue de la Forêt Noire, France); Michael Haupert (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afc:wpaper:06-22&r=
  5. By: Bracht, Eva; Monzani, Lucas; Boer, Diana; Haslam, S. Alexander; Kerschreiter, Rudolf; Lemoine, Jérémy E.; Steffens, Niklas K.; Akfirat, Serap Arslan; Avanzi, Lorenzo; Barghi, Bita; Dumont, Kitty; Edelmann, Charlotte M.; Epitropaki, Olga; Fransen, Katrien; Giessner, Steffen R.; Gleibs, Ilka H.; González, Roberto; Laguia Gonzalez, Ana; Lipponen, Jukka; Markovits, Yannis; Molero, Fernando; Moriano, Juan A.; Neves, Pedro; Orosz, Gábor; Roland-Lévy, Christine; Schuh, Sebastian; Sekiguchi, Tomoki; Jiwen Song, Lynda; S. P. Story, Joana; Stouten, Jeroen; Tatachari, Srinivasan; Valdenegro, Daniel; van Bunderen, Lisanne; Vörös, Viktor; Wong, Sut I; Youssef, Farida; Zhang, Xin-an; van Dick, Rolf
    Abstract: Innovation is considered essential for today's organizations to survive and thrive. Researchers have also stressed the importance of leadership as a driver of followers' innovative work behavior (FIB). Yet, despite a large amount of research, three areas remain understudied: (a) The relative importance of different forms of leadership for FIB; (b) the mechanisms through which leadership impacts FIB; and (c) the degree to which relationships between leadership and FIB are generalizable across cultures. To address these lacunae, we propose an integrated model connecting four types of positive leadership behaviors, two types of identification (as mediating variables), and FIB. We tested our model in a global data set comprising responses of N = 7,225 participants from 23 countries, grouped into nine cultural clusters. Our results indicate that perceived LMX quality was the strongest relative predictor of FIB. Furthermore, the relationships between both perceived LMX quality and identity leadership with FIB were mediated by social identification. The indirect effect of LMX on FIB via social identification was stable across clusters, whereas the indirect effects of the other forms of leadership on FIB via social identification were stronger in countries high versus low on collectivism. Power distance did not influence the relations.
    Keywords: leadership; identification; innovation; multilevel modeling; cross-cultural leadership; cultural values; positive leadership; innovative behavior; social identification
    JEL: J50
    Date: 2022–02–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113606&r=
  6. By: Nicola Campigotto; Chiara Rapallini; Aldo Rustichini
    Abstract: Academic consensus about normative prescriptions on the ethnic and cultural composition of societies has been shifting in recent decades. It has evolved from what seemed desirable but was acknowledged to be unrealistic (the noble idea of a melting pot), to what is realistic because it has already happened, but might be undesirable in the long run: the multicultural diaspora. Plural societies, an unintended consequence of multiculturalism, lurk in the background. Thus scholars of social and economic questions, as well as societies, face a threehorned dilemma. We throw some light on the dilemma by examining school friendship networks in five European countries with recent immigration. Our results highlight the force of elective affinities in overcoming differences, but they also point to the countervailing forces of elective discordance that are currently driving increasing division.
    Keywords: Friendship; Homophily; Immigration; Networks; Social cohesion.
    JEL: D85 J15 Z13
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2022_15.rdf&r=

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