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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Stephan Heblich; Stephen J. Redding; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | Did overseas slave-holding by Britons accelerate the Industrial Revolution? We provide theory and evidence on the contribution of slave wealth to Britain's growth prior to 1835. We compare areas of Britain with high and low exposure to the colonial plantation economy, using granular data on wealth from compensation records. Before the major expansion of slave holding from the 1640s onwards, both types of area exhibited similar levels of economic activity. However, by the 1830s, slavery wealth is strongly correlated with economic development - slave-holding areas are less agricultural, closer to cotton mills, and have higher property wealth. We rationalize these findings using a dynamic spatial model, where slavery investment raises the return to capital accumulation, expanding production in capital-intensive sectors. To establish causality, we use arguably exogenous variation in slave mortality on the passage from Africa to the Indies, driven by weather shocks. We show that weather shocks influenced the continued involvement of ancestors in the slave trade; weather-induced slave mortality of slave-trading ancestors in each area is strongly predictive of slaveholding in 1833. Quantifying our model using the observed data, we find that Britain would have been substantially poorer and more agricultural in the absence of overseas slave wealth. Overall, our findings are consistent with the view that slavery wealth accelerated Britain's industrial revolution. |
| Keywords: | industrial revolution, overseas slave-holding, slavery wealth |
| Date: | 2022–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1884&r=evo |
| By: | Caserta, Maurizio; Distefano, Rosaria; Ferrante, Livio |
| Abstract: | In everyday life, individuals interact with relatives, friends and colleagues, share ideas and passions and cooperate with others to pursue common goals. Within each social domain, individuals recognize themselves as a group member with rights and duties to observe. Understanding the importance of social norms and encouraging mutually beneficial cooperation is crucial for societal and economic development. This paper presents an experimental study of an educational program for early adolescents of 11 years old from South Italy. The program introduces participants to institutions, civic engagement, sense of duty, and decision-making. Among other didactic activities, it includes guided tours and a role-taking game. Our results suggest that the program attendance positively affects cooperation in a one-shot Prisoner’s Dilemma and altruistic behavior in a Dictator Game. Our findings contribute to the nature-nurture debate, showing that promoting prosocial behavior can be effective in pursing the common good. |
| Keywords: | Experimental game theory,Group Decision Making,Cooperation,Prisoner’s Dilemma,Dictator Game |
| JEL: | C72 C93 I20 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:266393&r=evo |
| By: | Jose Apesteguia; Miguel Ángel Ballester |
| Abstract: | In this paper we propose a novel way to measure behavioral heterogeneity in a population of stochastic individuals. Our measure is choice-based; it evaluates the probability that, over a sampled menu, the sampled choices of two sampled individuals differ. We provide axiomatic foundations for this measure, and a decomposition result that separates heterogeneity into its intra- and inter-personal components. |
| Keywords: | heterogeneity, intra-personal, inter-personal, axiomatic foundations |
| JEL: | D01 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1850&r=evo |