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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
| By: | Robert J. Barro; Edgard Dewitte; Laurence Iannaccone |
| Abstract: | The attendance rate at religious services is an important variable for the sociology and economics of religion, but long-term and global data are scarce. Retrospective questions from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) allow the construction of rates of religious-service attendance back as far as the 1920s in 66 countries, half from the “Global South.” A number of checks support the reliability of the retrospective information. One exercise demonstrates the consistency between retrospective and contemporaneous survey data when the two overlap. Another procedure shows that the retrospective values are similar when generated from individual ISSP surveys for 1991, 1998, 2008, and 2018; that is, there is no clear dependence of memory on the number of years of recall. The new data document a century-long “Great Religious Divergence” between North and South. We use the data to carry out event studies for effects on religious-service attendance of two major events. Vatican II, in 1962-1965, triggered a decline in worldwide Catholic attendance relative to that in other denominations. In contrast, the endings of Communism in the early 1990s did not systematically affect religious-service attendance. Finally, in a large sample, religious-service attendance responds positively to wars and depressions. |
| JEL: | N30 Z12 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34060 |
| By: | Sawkins, John W. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the establishment and early evolution of the Free Church of Scotland; the only British religious denomination to be founded on a national scale through voluntary financial support from its inception. Through an analysis of the church's origins and early institutional development the paper offers fresh insights into nineteenth-century Scotland's foremost voluntary institution. Central to this is the socially entrepreneurial leadership of Rev Dr Thomas Chalmers, as well as the structural deficiencies in institutional governance that impaired the church's capacity to address enduring financial challenges, notably cross-subsidy and debt. In doing so, the study contributes to the field of business history by analysing a previously overlooked organizational form that emerged from a long running conflict between ecclesiastical and state authorities over the limits of sovereign power. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary sector, social entrepreneurship, church, Victorian Scotland |
| JEL: | L31 N8 Z12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwuaef:323948 |
| By: | Michael D. Bordo; Oliver Bush; Ryland Thomas |
| Abstract: | Discussion of the causes of the Great Inflation in the UK during the 1970s has centred around the relative importance of two potential explanations, which we label “bad luck” – the occurrence of unusually large commodity price and supply-side shocks - and “bad policy” reflecting failures in both monetary and prices and incomes policies. By reconsidering the historical and empirical record of inflation from 1950s to the early 1990s we show that the persistence of the Great Inflation in the UK cannot fully be explained by these factors, although these can account for some of the major fluctuations. Instead, underlying inflation and inflation expectations appear to be the result of a sequence of regime shifts. We argue those regime shifts are as much related to fundamental changes in fiscal policy as they are to monetary policy and union reforms. Our empirical evidence suggests that fiscal policy was at the heart of many of the problems in the UK during the Great Inflation. In contrast to most of British history, it was not used to stabilise the public finances. Instead, it was used to keep unemployment down and growth up, to subsidise losers from terms of trade shocks and to secure deals with the unions. |
| JEL: | N10 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34063 |
| By: | Kazi Abdul, Mannan; Khandaker Mursheda, Farhana |
| Abstract: | This study examines the historical presence, ecological functions, and extinction of elephants in the Canaan region, encompassing modern-day Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, through an interdisciplinary zoological and forestry-based survey. Drawing on archaeological records, paleontological findings, historical texts, and ecological reconstructions, the research explores how elephants once inhabited and shaped the Levantine landscapes. The paper examines their role as keystone herbivores, their integration into regional cultures through trade, warfare, and symbolism, and their eventual disappearance due to climatic shifts, deforestation, and anthropogenic pressures. Cultural memory of elephants, preserved in religious scriptures and place names, offers insights into human–animal relations and the ecological consciousness of ancient societies. The study highlights how lessons from the extinction of elephants can inform current biodiversity strategies, forest management, and conservation outreach in the Levant. It also proposes future research directions, including ecological rewilding, public education, and regional conservation collaboration. By contextualising elephants within the broader environmental history of the region, the study underscores the importance of integrating lost megafauna into modern ecological narratives. |
| Keywords: | Elephant extinction, megafauna, ecological memory, habitat loss, historical ecology, forestry survey |
| JEL: | Q0 Q5 Q54 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125202 |
| By: | Dhammika Dharmapala; Marvin Suesse |
| Abstract: | A vast literature across several academic disciplines studies the impact of colonial rule, but less attention has been paid to the consequences of decolonization. This paper uses a recently-constructed dataset on the fiscal history of African countries from 1900 to 2015 to analyze the impact of decolonization on fiscal capacity (defined as revenue from taxes that are relatively difficult to collect and that require more administrative infrastructure). The analysis adopts a staggered difference-in-difference approach, implemented using a stacked event study. It finds no discernible pre-trends prior to decolonization, and a substantial increase in fiscal capacity starting about 5-6 years after decolonization. This result – which implies substantial state-building activity in postcolonial Africa – is robust to tests for a variety of alternative explanations, the use of alternative control groups, and the use of generalized synthetic control methods. We also show that this effect is not explained by democratization or improved public goods provision. Our conceptual framework instead posits that post-colonial states were able to increase tax revenues from hard-to collect sources because their higher degree of legitimacy improved citizens’ tax morale. We offer historical evidence that is consistent with this channel. Our finding – that colonial rulers invested less in fiscal capacity than did post-independence governments – sheds new light on the consequences of colonial rule, and on the determinants of variation in governments’ fiscal capacity. |
| Keywords: | taxation, colonialism, decolonization, fiscal capacity, legitimacy |
| JEL: | H20 O12 N47 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12059 |
| By: | Schechtl, Manuel |
| Abstract: | Wealth inequality in the United States has reached heights not seen since World War II, renewing fears that concentrated economic power may undermine democracy. Yet empirical research linking inequality to democratic erosion remains inconclusive, in part because most studies focus on cross-country comparison, and examine income rather than wealth. This study exploits variation across fifty U.S. states—each embedded in a common federal framework but differing in political and economic dynamics—to test whether rising state‐level wealth inequality predicts democratic backsliding. I draw on two novel datasets: the State Democracy Index and the GEOWEALTH-US database. Pooled OLS models reveal a robust, negative association between state-level wealth inequality and democracy scores, and two‐way fixed effects estimates confirm that within‐state increases in wealth inequality are associated with declines in democratic performance. Interaction analyses show that growing Republican legislatures are associated with democratic backsliding where state-level wealth inequality is rising, and that extreme wealth shares (top 1%, 0.1%, 0.01%) exert the strongest influence. These findings demonstrate that subnational wealth disparities—and their convergence with partisan politics—might actively erode American democratic institutions. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2025–07–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ax5b9_v1 |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R.; Robinson, RaeAnn H. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the characteristics of the free population who were recorded as "owners" of enslaved people in the antebellum Southern states. We utilize the first nationally representative sample linking enslaved and free people - the 1/100 sample microdata files of the 1850 Census of Population from Schedule 1 on free people, and Schedule 2 on the enslaved population - to identify the slaveholders and their slaveholdings. The reduced form regression analyses consider both owning at least one enslaved person, and among slaveholders the number held. The findings indicate that 90 percent of the enslaved population were reportedly held by free males, that among men this was more likely for those who were married, but among women it was lower for the married, that for both genders slaveholding increased with age, being literate, and having been born in the US. Moreover, it varied by free men's occupation, in part because of the extent of self-employment and in part due to their wealth. While most slaveholders were self-employed farmers, many of the slaveholders were professionals, including clergy, doctors, and lawyers who used enslaved people in their household, in their professional practice, or in the farms/plantations that they also owned. |
| Keywords: | Enslaved People, Slaveholders, 1850 Census of Population, Schedule 2 - Slave Inhabitants, Occupations, Gender, Literacy, Nativity |
| JEL: | N10 N9 N31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1637 |
| By: | Ruijun Hou (Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Leicester; School of Economics, University of Bristol); Samuel Baker (School of Economics, University of Bristol); Stephanie von Hinke (School of Economics, University of Bristol; Institute for Fiscal Studies; Institute for the Study of Labor); Hans H. Sievertsen (The Danish Center for Social Science Research, VIVE; School of Economics, University of Bristol; Institute for the Study of Labor); Emil S{\o}rensen (School of Economics, University of Bristol); Nicolai Vitt (School of Economics, University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | We study the long-term health and human capital impacts of local economic conditions experienced during the first 1, 000 days of life. We combine historical data on monthly unemployment rates in urban England and Wales 1952-1967 with data from the UK Biobank on later-life outcomes. Leveraging variation in unemployment driven by national industry-specific shocks weighted by industry's importance in each area, we find no evidence that small, common fluctuations in local economic conditions during the early life period affect health or human capital in older age. |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2507.08159 |
| By: | Garcia Calvo, Angela; Hancké, Bob |
| Abstract: | When does industrial policy succeed and fail in advanced economies? Most approaches to these questions concentrate on policy design and state power. Instead, we draw attention to the historical legacies, industrial structures, and institutional arrangements that shape industrial policy outcomes. We use insights from historical institutionalism and international business to develop a relational argument based on two first-order conditions: a critical mass of firms with sufficient capabilities to leverage the resources resulting from industrial policy, and the alignment between industrial policy goals and national institutional systems. Industrial policy could succeed, given the important second-order conditions that many have examined, when one of these conditions is present and public intervention produces the other. But industrial policy is certain to fail when both conditions are absent. Using a most different systems design, we assess our framework through short case-studies of industrial policy success and failure in Europe in the past 6 decades. |
| Keywords: | industrial policy; O43 Institutions and growth; growth; Europe; economic policy; high-tech; institutions |
| JEL: | O38 |
| Date: | 2025–07–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128970 |
| By: | Heise, Arne |
| Abstract: | Keynes's Principle of Effective Demand is widely recognized not only as a major theoretical innovation but also as one of the core concepts uniting various post-Keynesian strands. However, Keynes's own treatment of the Principle of Effective Demand - known as the Z/D model and identified by himself as central to his attempt to fundamentally refute Say's Law - has been ignored or even outright rejected by many post-Keynesians on the grounds that it remains too deeply rooted in mainstream economics. This paper addresses such criticism by emphasizing that any evaluation of the Z/D model must take into account the paradigmatic shift Keynes sought to initiate. |
| Keywords: | Keynes, Z/D model, principle of effective demand |
| JEL: | B50 E12 E24 J23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cessdp:321891 |
| By: | Puppe, Clemens; Tasnádi, Attila |
| Abstract: | In many professional activities humans are getting better generation by generation. This is supposed to be the case, for instance, in sports and in science. Is it true in the arts? In this paper, we consider violinists from the time period in which audio and video recordings became possible. Based on the number of YouTube views, and by employing different aggregation methods, we find that listening to violinists from the mid of the previous century does not seem to be significantly less attractive to audiences than listening to contemporary violinists. Methodologically, our analysis contributes to the growing literature on the aggregation of incomplete lists. In particular, we introduce a generalization of the Nash collective utility function for incomplete lists. |
| Keywords: | Group decisions and negotiations, multi-criteria decision making, aggregation of incomplete lists, Nash collective utility function, top violinists |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:323216 |
| By: | Francesco Cinnirella; Elona Harka |
| Abstract: | Empirical evidence on the historical role of Compulsory Schooling Laws (CSL) for the spread of mass education is mixed at best. This is also due to the difficulty of identifying exogenous variation in the application of CSL. We exploit an almost unique feature of a CSL in 1877 Italy which was gradually implemented across municipalities based on the teacher to population ratio. This criterion generates a sharp discontinuity which can be exploited to estimate the causal effect of the early implementation of CSL on economic outcomes. Estimates based on a regression discontinuity design show that CSL had a positive long-term effect on innovation and industrial employment. Consistent with the main objective of the reform, CSL had a positive effect on human capital by increasing enrollment rates in technical schools and, more in general, the literacy rate. The results are robust to a series of placebo, falsification and manipulation tests. This study provides important policy implications in favor of the early implementation of CSL to increase the average level of education which, in turns, brings about positive effects on innovation and industrialization. |
| Keywords: | education, industrialization, literacy, patents, liberal Italy |
| JEL: | N33 O14 O43 I25 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12043 |
| By: | Luisa Corrado (DEF and CEIS, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"); Stefano Grassi (DEF and CEIS, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"); Aldo Paolillo (Università di Roma "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | Recent studies suggest that space activities generate significant economic benefits. This paper attempts to quantify these effects by modeling both business cycle and long-run effects driven by space sector activities. We develop a model in which technologies are shaped by both a dedicated R&D sector and spillovers from space-sector innovations. Using U.S. data from the 1960s to the present day, we analyze patent grants to distinguish between space and core sector technologies. By leveraging the network of patent citations, we further examine the evolving dependence between space and core technologies over time. Our findings highlight the positive impact of the aerospace sector on technological innovation and economic growth, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. |
| Keywords: | Aerospace, Space Economy, Growth |
| JEL: | A1 C5 E00 O10 |
| Date: | 2025–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:609 |
| By: | Ferrara, Andreas (University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics, and NBER); Dippel, Christian (Western University, Ivey Business School, and NBER); Heblich, Stephan (University of Toronto, Department of Economics, and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence on the critical role of lower-level organizational leaders. Unlike top managers, frontline leaders are essential for implementing organizational strategies by maintaining team cohesion when shirking is profitable for workers. We study this in the context of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, using data on 2.2 million soldiers and tracking captains and their 100-soldier companies at weekly frequency throughout the conflict. We estimate leader fixed effects during non-combat weeks to measure leadership quality in a leader value-added framework. We validate this measure by showing that captains were not assigned based on prior unit performance or observable pre-war characteristics. High-quality leaders earned more after the war, but not before, and were more frequently recognized as good leaders in their postwar biographies. Daily event-study estimates around major battles show that better captains significantly reduced desertions in combat. Exploiting quasi-random leader turnover, we find evidence that this effect is causal. Using digitized battle maps, we rule out risk aversion as a mechanism and find instead that better leaders had higher mortality rates, consistent with a leading-by-example explanation. We also document modest learning-by-doing effects. These findings highlight the often-overlooked importance of frontline leadership, where direct supervision and interpersonal influence are strongest. |
| Keywords: | Leadership, Leader Value-Added, Group Cohesion, Social Capital JEL Classification: N11, J24, D9, M12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:762 |
| By: | Eyal G. Frank; Qinyun Wang; Shaoda Wang; Xuebin Wang; Yang You |
| Abstract: | How do large disruptions to ecosystems affect human well-being? This paper tests the long-standing hypothesis that China's 1958 Four Pests Campaign, which exterminated sparrows despite scientists’ warnings about their pest-control role, exacerbated the Great Famine—the largest in human history. Combining newly digitized data on historical agricultural productivity in China with habitat suitability modeling methods in ecology, we find that, after sparrow eradication, a one-standard-deviation increase in sparrow suitability led to 5.3% larger rice and 8.7% larger wheat declines. State food procurement exacerbated these losses, resulting in a 9.6% higher mortality in high-suitability counties—implying nearly two million excess deaths. |
| JEL: | N55 Q50 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34087 |
| By: | Kritikos, Alexander; Stock, Günter; Zimmermann, Klaus F. |
| Abstract: | This article highlights the transformation of the German Institute for Economic Research ("DIW Berlin") toward a strong dedication to evidence-based policymaking during the first decade of the 21st century and is part of its centennial celebrations in 2025. This shift came in response to a directive by the German Council of Science and Humanities ("Wissenschaftsrat") to all German economic research institutes. DIW Berlin's successful transition was driven in large part by the integration of research and policy advice, as anchored by stringent publication requirements for research staff members. |
| Keywords: | DIW Berlin, evidence-based policymaking, refereed journal publications, Wissenschaftsrat |
| JEL: | A11 C54 D02 E02 E61 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1651 |
| By: | Tolga Benzer (Turku School of Economics, University of Turku); Janne Tukiainen (Turku School of Economics, University of Turku) |
| Abstract: | We examine whether anti-establishment outsider movements can leverage education and youth mobilization to build long-run political power. We study the expansion of state-run religious secondary schools in 1970s Turkiye and show that access to these schools catalyzed the emergence of Islamist youth organizations, which played a central role in ideological formation, grassroots mobilization, and the eventual electoral success of the Islamist movement. Using a novel dataset and a difference-in-differences framework, we show that access to religious schools increased the local presence of Islamist youth organizations in the short run and boosted Islamist party vote share in the medium run. Effects were strongest where youth branches formed soon after school access and engaged in ideologically immersive activities. Individual-level survey evidence shows that exposed male cohorts were more religious and more likely to engage in Islamist party politics later in life. Our findings illustrate how schools and youth organizations—when strategically aligned—can serve as a foundation for enduring political transformation, not only for ruling elites but also for outsider movements seeking to gain power. |
| Keywords: | Schools, Outsider movements, Party youth organizations, Elections, Religion |
| JEL: | D71 D72 I28 P16 P52 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp171 |
| By: | Silva Lopes, Artur |
| Abstract: | This book provides a comprehensive and systematic review of most of the literature on the univariate analysis of trends in economic time series. It also provides original insights and criticisms on some of the topics that are addressed. Its chapter structure is as follows. 1 Introduction (preliminary issues). 2 Historical perspective. 3 Modeling the trend. 4 Decomposition methods. 5 Testing for the presence of a trend. Annex: A brief introduction to filters. |
| Keywords: | trend, long-run, low-frequency, linear trend, nonlinear trend, decomposition of time series, filtering, detrending, business cycles |
| JEL: | B23 C22 C51 C52 E32 O47 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:323383 |
| By: | Ayres, Ian; Donohue, John J. III |
| Abstract: | In a remarkable paper published in 1997, John Lott and David Mustard managed to set the agenda for much subsequent dataset work on the impact of guns on crime in America by creating a massive dataset of crime across all U.S. counties from 1977 through 1992 and by amassing a powerful statistical argument that state laws enabling citizens to carry concealed handguns had reduced crime. The initial paper was followed a year later by an even more comprehensive and sustained argument to the same effect in a book solely authored by John Lott entitled More Guns, Less Crime (now in its second edition). The work by Lott and Mustard has triggered an unusually large set of academic responses, with talented scholars lining up on both sides of the debate. Indeed, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences has been convened to sort through the now large body of conflicting studies. But in the world of affairs rather than ideas, it did not take long for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and politicians across the country to seize upon the work of Lott and Mustard to oppose efforts at gun control and advance the cause of greater freedom to carry guns. For example, in the same year that the initial article was published, Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) introduced The Personal Safety and Community Protection Act, which was designed to facilitate the carrying of concealed firearms by nonresidents of a state who had obtained valid permits to carry such weapons in their home state. Senator Craig argued that the work of John Lott showed that arming the citizenry via laws allowing the carrying of concealed handguns would have a protective effect for the community at large because criminals would find themselves in the line of fire. On May 27, 1999, Lott testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the stricter gun regulations proposed by President Clinton either would have no effect or would actually cost lives, and a number of Republican members of Congress have since included favorable references in their speeches to Lott's work. Moreover, Lott has also testified in support of concealed gun laws before several state legislatures, including Nebraska (1997), Michigan (1998), Minnesota (1999), Ohio (2002), and Wisconsin (2002). |
| Date: | 2025–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:lawarc:e72nj_v1 |
| By: | Enrique Martínez García; Michael Sposi |
| Abstract: | U.S. tariff policy has historically balanced competing goals—revenue, protection and reciprocity. Policy priorities have shifted over time in response to changing economic and political conditions. Using a calibrated general equilibrium model, we illustrate these trade-offs through the lens of tariff Laffer curves. A 70 percent tariff maximizes U.S. revenue only in the absence of retaliation; this optimum falls to 30 percent with reciprocal tariffs. A unilateral 25 percent tariff delivers the largest domestic consumption gains through favorable terms-of-trade effects, though these gains vanish under retaliation. Simulations also show that multilateral retaliatory tariffs can partially offset losses for Mexico and Canada—unless escalation triggers broader trade conflict. The 2018–19 tariff war further illustrates how targeted tariffs distort relative prices and cross-border resource allocation. |
| Keywords: | tariff policy; terms of trade; optimal tariffs; Tariff Laffer Curve; general equilibrium models; U.S. trade history |
| JEL: | F13 F14 F15 H20 C68 F51 |
| Date: | 2025–08–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:101406 |
| By: | Benassi, Enrico (University of Oxford); Bedük, Selçuk (University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | Young people’s declining access to homeownership is a growing concern across Europe. Yet it remains unclear whether this trend reflects a temporary delay or a more persistent exclusion from homeownership. In this research note, we examine the decline in homeownership from early to mid-adulthood across European birth cohorts born between 1940 and 2000. Using EU-SILC data from 2005–2020, we first document age-homeownership curves, showing that most transitions into ownership occur by age 40. We then show substantial cohort declines in homeownership, especially between ages 25 and 35, but also from 40 to 50. Early-adulthood declines are more pronounced among advantaged groups, likely reflecting delayed transitions to adulthood, while later-life declines are concentrated among disadvantaged groups and avoided only by high earners, suggesting limited access for younger generations. Decomposition analysis reveals that differences in work and family characteristics explain only a small part of the declines at ages 30, 35, and 40. Most of the trend remains unexplained, pointing to a broad deterioration in homeownership access, likely driven by rising house prices. If these trends persist, today’s younger cohorts may increasingly remain excluded from homeownership over their life course. |
| Date: | 2025–07–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:rfpum_v1 |
| By: | Omenti, Riccardo; Alexander, Monica; Barban, Nicola |
| Abstract: | A growing number of social scientists use online genealogical data as an alternative digital census of historical populations for the examination of past demographic dynamics. However, the non-representativeness of this data source requires the development of bias-adjusting methods to obtain accurate demographic estimates. We address this challenge by proposing an indirect estimation framework to investigate fertility trends in seven European countries and the United States of America for the historical period 1751-1910, integrating data from the big genealogical database FamiLinx with more traditional data sources. The proposed methods produce total fertility rate (TFR) estimates using minimal data, specifically women aged 15-49 and children under age 5, while accounting for child mortality, age-specific fertility patterns, and biases inherent in online genealogical data. Our methodological approaches demonstrate that, when combined with reliable demographic data, online genealogical data can be fruitfully used to examine fertility patterns in countries and historical periods lacking well-functioning national civil registration systems. |
| Date: | 2025–07–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:ygt2k_v1 |
| By: | Van Even, Priscilla (KU Leuven); Wang, Huize (Zhejiang University); Wang, Kexin; Fang, Yu; Bibert, Niels (KU Leuven) |
| Abstract: | Museums are more than repositories of cultural treasures; they actively collect, preserve, and exhibit cultural heritage for local and global audiences, reflecting shared values and serving as important institutes for cross-cultural exchange. Within this chapter, we will explore “中国历代 绘画大系”, A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings, an impressive printed series of Chinese artworks dedicated to preserving and presenting ancient Chinese cultural heritage in all of its glory. This unprecedented collection, along with its curation and communication, emerged through intensive global exchanges, cross-cultural dialogues, interdisciplinary collaborations, and technological innovation, positioning it as an exemplary case for museums of the future. The Collection has been documented in an encyclopedic multi-volume book series, which has been donated to universities worldwide, and it has also been exhibited in museums both within and beyond China, communicated through digital media platforms, and has even inspired the creation of a dedicated Collection Hall complex building, “中国历代绘画大系典藏馆” , at the Yuhang District in Hangzhou. Within this chapter, we approach this collection through two complementary disciplinary lenses. First, from an art historical perspective, we trace the story of the collection’s formation, the challenges of gathering and preserving Chinese paintings dispersed across global institutions, and the essential role of digital mediation in this process. Second, from the fields of media studies and communication sciences, we examine the establishment of the Collection Hall by Yuhang Municipal Government and Zhejiang University, and its innovative use of technology and spatial design to curate and communicate art across cultural and geographic borders in and beyond the museum. Together, these perspectives reveal how museums can evolve into dynamic, digitally mediated spaces for cultural dialogue and heritage preservation in a globalized world. Keywords – Chinese paintings, cultural heritage, preservation, art communication, cross-cultural collaboration, digital mediation, interdisciplinarity |
| Date: | 2025–07–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:kh3c8_v1 |
| By: | Andreas Ferrara; Christian Dippel; Stephan Heblich |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new evidence on the critical role of lower-level organizational leaders. Unlike top managers, frontline leaders are essential for implementing organizational strategies by maintaining team cohesion when shirking is profitable for workers. We study this in the context of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, using data on 2.2 million soldiers and tracking captains and their 100-soldier companies at weekly frequency throughout the conflict. We estimate leader fixed effects during non-combat weeks to measure leadership quality in a leader value-added framework. We validate this measure by showing that captains were not assigned based on prior unit performance or observable pre-war characteristics. High-quality leaders earned more after the war, but not before, and were more frequently recognized as good leaders in their postwar biographies. Daily event-study estimates around major battles show that better captains significantly reduced desertions in combat. Exploiting quasi-random leader turnover, we find evidence that this effect is causal. Using digitized battle maps, we rule out risk aversion as a mechanism and find instead that better leaders had higher mortality rates, consistent with a leading-by-example explanation. We also document modest learning-by-doing effects. These findings highlight the often-overlooked importance of frontline leadership, where direct supervision and interpersonal influence are strongest. |
| JEL: | D9 J24 M12 N21 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34057 |
| By: | René Kemp; Marianna Markantoni; Job Zomerplaag; Bonno Pel; Ali Crighton |
| Abstract: | This chapter traces the dynamic history of energy citizenship in the Netherlands, an evolution from grassroots protests to partnerships with businesses and government entities. Through a comprehensive analysis of historical events, case studies, and policy developments, the study shows how energy citizenship in the Netherlands has evolved from opposition to nuclear power in the early 1970s to today’s diverse and multifaceted initiatives. The research employs a mix of qualitative methods, including interviews, document analysis, and workshops, focusing on Dutch energy citizenship initiatives such as Weert Energie, Ameland, LSA, and Loenen Energie. These examples not only showcase transformative goals and agency but also reflect the Poldermodel, a consensus-based decision-making process prevalent in the Netherlands characterised by collaboration and negotiation between multiple stakeholders, including the government, employers, labour unions, and other relevant parties. The paper also examines the role of intermediaries in enhancing energy citizenship and how changing power dynamics and institutional structures have influenced the energy transition. By comparing the rise and nature of energy cooperatives from the 1980s to the present day, the study highlights significant shifts in citizen engagement, technological adoption, and policy influence. The findings reveal that while energy citizenship in the Netherlands has achieved notable successes, it continues to navigate complex challenges in pursuit of a more sustainable and democratic energy future. |
| Keywords: | Chequered history; Energy citizenship; Protests; Public-civic partnerships; The Netherlands |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/393056 |
| By: | Catelén, Ana Laura |
| Abstract: | This paper tests for the cyclical implications of the external constraint in Argentina from 1930 to 2018, and investigates the responses of GDP, real wages, trade balance, and external debt to external trade shocks using a recursive vector-autoregressive model. Moreover, considering the shift in development strategy in 1976, marked by the transition from state-led industrialization to deregulation and trade openness, changes in external vulnerability are analyzed. Results confirm a trade balance bottleneck hindering future growth, and that external debt fails to spur short-term growth or improve the purchasing power of the population, thereby confirming the vicious cyclical dynamics of stop-and-go and go-and-crash for the entire period. Also, real external vulnerability grew significantly after 1976, as evidenced by the fact that the cumulative impact of movements in the terms of trade and external demand rose from explaining 30% to 43% of GDP variation. |
| Keywords: | Ciclos Económicos; Balanza Comercial; Vulnerabilidad Externa; Argentina; 1930–2018; |
| Date: | 2025–07–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:4364 |
| By: | Tolga Benzer (Turku School of Economics, University of Turku) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of access to state-run religious schools on girls’ outcomes in T\"urkiye. These schools, offering religious instruction and a conservative school environment, became accessible to girls following a 1976 court ruling. Exploiting variation in exposure to religious schools across district centers and cohorts, I find that access increased secondary school completion among girls—with more pronounced effects observed in conservative areas—while having negligible effects on boys. Treated women later had lower fertility and higher labor force participation. The findings show that removing cultural barriers to education can promote schooling and public life integration for culturally marginalized groups. |
| Keywords: | Culture, Religion, Education, Women's Empowerment, Islam |
| JEL: | I24 I25 J13 J16 J22 Z12 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp170 |
| By: | Hobson, Christopher |
| Abstract: | Faced with a continually mounting array of shocks, surprises and shifts, there is an understandable search for frames to describe these confusing conditions. A combination of the collapse of previous certainties with the lack of a new paradigm solidifying has led many to depict the present moment as an interregnum. This is not a neutral term, to use it is to bring forth the poetic phrasing of Antonio Gramsci: ‘the old is dying and the new cannot be born’. Through a genealogical engagement with Gramsci’s prison notebook entry, this paper traces the remarkable trajectory of the term from obscurity to being adopted by commentators across the political spectrum. The paper considers Gramsci’s original prison notebook entry, observes the lack of engagement with it during the 1960s and 70s when other parts of his work were picked up. Indeed, it was only following the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, and the entry being coterminously invoked by two influential scholars, Zygmunt Bauman and Slavoj Žižek. The paper examines how Bauman and Žižek each offered a template for how interregnum has been used in the years since. In the first mode, as represented by Bauman, Gramsci’s entry is placed at the beginning of the analysis and then serves as a frame for the subsequent discussion of maladies identified. In the second mode, as found in Žižek, interregnum appears at the end as part of the argument’s grand finale. In both renditions, Gramsci is deployed to buttress already established arguments. The paper surveys some more interesting and provocative engagements with the entry in recent years presented by Carlo Bordoni, Wolfgang Streeck and Adam Tooze. These are an exception to the more common trend of Gramsci’s interregnum being flattened and thinned out, reduced to an analytical meme. Bemoaning the death of the ‘old’ and the rise of ‘monsters’ is much easier than seriously reckoning with the contradictions and difficulties of an expanding empty space, one devoid of historical guarantees or clear precedents. |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:gzhrq_v1 |
| By: | Oded Galor (Brown University) |
| Abstract: | What sparked humanity’s leap from stagnation to prosperity? What lies at the core of inequality among nations? Unified Growth Theory explores the evolution of societies over the entire course of human history. It uncovers the universal wheels of change that have governed the journey of humanity, driven the growth process, and shaped inequality across the globe. The theory sheds light on two of the most fundamental mysteries surrounding this journey: (i) The Mystery of Growth—the origins of the dramatic transformation in human prosperity over the past two centuries, in the wake of millennia of near stagnation; and (ii) The Mystery of Inequality—the roots of the vast inequality in the wealth of nations. The theory suggests that forces operating in the distant past are central to the understanding of the uneven development across the globe and the design of effective policies that could promote economic growth and mitigate inequality. |
| Keywords: | Growth, Inequality, Unified Growth Theory, Human Capital, Demographic Transition, Malthusian epoch |
| JEL: | I25 J10 O10 Z10 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2528 |
| By: | Raquel Fernández |
| Abstract: | Culture’s influence on economic outcomes is no longer controversial among economists even if it remains largely ignored in many areas of economics. This paper tackles a different question: why does culture change? The underlying premise adopted here is that culture changes because incentives change, transforming actions and beliefs. An idiosyncratic review of the literature follows that illustrates how the environment (e.g., the prevalence of pathogens or the suitability of land for pastoralism) and historical experiences (e.g., colonization, war, or migration) can affect relationships of power in society and shape people’s beliefs. It then examines the role of new information and ideas (i.e., learning) and finally the role of policies in shaping incentives and changing culture. A second part of the paper reviews work that models the mechanisms of cultural change more explicitly, using quantitative models to examine the interplay between economic incentives and evolving beliefs or preferences and to study the importance of intermediating mechanisms. Given that one of the most profound cultural and economic transformations of the past 150 years concerns gender roles, this theme recurs throughout. |
| JEL: | P0 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34077 |
| By: | Gallie, Duncan; Zhou, Ying |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-20th Century, theory and research in sociology on workers' responses to their experience of work can be broadly divided into three overlapping phases. The immediate post-war decades from the late 1940 to the 1970s saw the pervasive influence of an 'essentialist' conception of the meaningfulness of work. From the 1960s this was challenged by a 'liberal' view that rejected the idea that there was an inherent human nature in favour of an emphasis on the importance of individual value choice. It argued that a growth of instrumentalism in work orientations would make job quality decreasingly relevant to the meaning of work. Then in the first decades of the 21st Century, there was a revival of theory and research on meaningfulness, premised on the notion of fundamental human needs, but emphasising at the same time broader societal needs. These different perspectives have given a very different importance to the role of technology as a determinant of the meaning of work. Technological change was at the core of the essentialist arguments, it was marginalised by the liberal arguments and has become once more an important preoccupation of more recent work on meaningfulness. |
| Keywords: | meaningfulness, alienation, job quality, skills, control, technology |
| JEL: | J24 J28 J81 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1652 |
| By: | Andrews, Michael J.; Marble, William; Russell, Lauren |
| Abstract: | Social theorists and education advocates have long argued for the civic benefits of education. As large, durable institutions, universities are especially likely to affect the civic life of their communities. We investigate how the establishment of a university alters the civic and political trajectory of the surrounding area. For identification, we leverage historical site selection processes in which multiple locations were considered for new colleges. We bring together data on social capital, political preferences, and elections to assess the long-run impacts of college establishment. Communities with colleges exhibit higher levels of civic engagement and greater social trust today, relative to “runner-up” locations without colleges. These counties are also more politically liberal — a gap that has grown substantially since 2000. Our findings suggest understanding universities as place-based policies that shape the long-run civic and political development of their communities. They also shed light on current political battles over higher education policy. |
| Date: | 2025–07–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5v9zw_v1 |
| By: | Maxime Ghazarian (CRISES - Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en Sciences humaines et Sociales de Montpellier - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3) |
| Abstract: | At the time of the Indochina War, two dynamics of French foreign policy collided namely the construction of Europe and the struggle to preserve sovereignty in the Far East. After the pivot towards Europe, France tried to maximize its central place among European partners to Europeanize its Vietnamese policy. The objective was to continue the transition to diplomacy more adapted to French means while presenting to the Vietnamese interlocutors a large-scale partnership throughout the European Community. Through this process, France wished to remain the essential link in the cooperation, which it was otherwise seeking to confine to the intergovernmental level. The common European orientations towards the Vietnamese stakeholders between 1973 and 1975 finally led the Nine into paralysis. This only came to an end with reunification and the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam which allowed the establishment of multiform cooperation. |
| Abstract: | Au moment de la guerre d'Indochine, deux dynamiques de la politique étrangère française se sont entrechoquées, la construction européenne et la lutte pour préserver la souveraineté en « Extrême-Orient ». Après le pivot engagé en direction de l'Europe, la France a tenté de maximiser sa place centrale parmi les partenaires européens afin d'européaniser sa politique vietnamienne. L'objectif était de poursuivre la transition vers une diplomatie plus adaptée aux moyens français, tout en présentant aux interlocuteurs vietnamiens un partenariat d'envergure à travers l'Europe communautaire. Par ce processus, la France souhaitait rester le maillon essentiel de la coopération, qu'elle cherchait par ailleurs à cantonner à l'échelle intergouvernementale. Les orientations européennes communes vis-à-vis des parties prenantes vietnamiennes entre 1973 et 1975, entraînèrent finalement les Neuf dans une paralysie totale. Celle-ci ne se termina qu'à l'aune de la réunification et de la proclamation de la République socialiste du Việt Nam, qui permit l'établissement de coopérations multiformes. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05103407 |
| By: | Pawel Janas |
| Abstract: | I examine the effects of public debt on municipal services and real outcomes during financial crises using a unique archival dataset of U.S. cities from 1924 to 1943. Unlike today’s countercyclical fiscal policies, the Great Depression provides a rare setting to observe fiscal shocks without substantial intergovernmental or Federal Reserve support. My findings show that financial market frictions – especially the need to refinance debt – led cities to sharply cut expenditures, particularly on capital projects and police services. As urban development halted during the Depression, cities with high pre-crisis debt levels faced significant austerity pressures, a decline in population growth, a rise in crime, and a departure of skilled public servants from municipal governments. |
| JEL: | G01 H7 N3 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34011 |