How exactly does low fertility affect economic growth, are UN population predictions accurate, what’s driving the decline in fertility, and what can be done? To answer these questions, I’m joined by the brilliant macro-economist, Jesús Fernández-VillaverdeRead his recent paper: The Wealth of Working Nations https://www.nber.org/papers/w31914…

Professor Daron Acemoglu is famous for his careful empirical research, demonstrating the economic importance of institutions. But actually, he’s done a 180 to embrace culture!In this podcast we discuss his new theory of culture, what drives liberty and prosperity, the limits of democracy, and the importance of geography!…

Dr Oliver Kim has completed his PhD at Berkeley, recently appointed at Open Philanthropy. He does awesome research, carefully examining the drivers of structural transformation. We discussed:Why do you think East Asia is the only world region to have converged with the West?How have big data and computational tools changed our understanding of stru…

“Vikings is no. 1 from all the Saudi men 😂”.Leila chuckled as we browsed top hits on Netflix. For only 30 Riyals (8 USD) a month, Saudis can tune into stories about uncovered pagans. A global feast of delights are now on offer - from Western films to women’s football.Rapid cultural change is afoot in Saudi Arabia, a unique experiment in top-down se…

Culture is not a static inheritance, but a dynamic arena of ongoing struggle. From the mosques of Jakarta to the classrooms of Louisiana, from TikTok feeds to university lecture halls, ideological warfare rages. This podcast explores the complex interplay of several crucial factors shaping our cultural landscape:Contestation: Culture is a battlefie…

Imagine: Elon Musk's tweet causes a cryptocurrency frenzy. Kim Kardashian’s outfit becomes an overnight fashion sensation. Daron Acemoglu and colleagues’ paper on settler mortality reshapes economic thinking. The Pope’s words influence millions globally. What links these diverse events? They’re all powerful manifestations of prestige bias.Psycholog…

Senior management remains heavily male, and honestly I’m not entirely sure why.Economist Ingrid Haegele finds that junior men are more likely to apply for promotions, primarily due to a greater desire for team leadership.Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.07750.pdfHaegele: https://www.ingridhaegele.com/…

During the World War I, the US federal government was short on civil servants and actively recruited women. Abhay Aneja, Silvia Farina, and Guo Xu find that men with multiple female colleagues were subsequently more likely to marry working women and father careerist daughters! Crucially, the effect is larger when men have many female colleagues and…

How can we improve government capacity and public services?In “Mission-Driven Bureaucrats”, Dan Honig argues that civil servants are often deeply committed, yet hobbled by strict rule books. Trapped by top-down strictures, civil servants may even become disillusioned. Unable to help, they quit.Government ministries can be so much more effective if …

Imagine a world where love knows no boundaries, where two people can marry regardless of their gender. Now open your eyes. In some parts of the globe, this is reality. In others, it's a distant dream.Twenty years ago, a mere 26% of Americans supported same-sex marriage. Today, that figure has skyrocketed to 69%. That is extremely rapid cultural cha…

Aaron Rock-Singer is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative. He has published two fantastic books, “Practicing Islam: Egypt’s Islamic Revival” and “In the Shade of the Sunna: Salafi Piety in the Twentieth-Century Middle East”. Aaron is truly brilliant, connecting both the macro and the micro. By examining structural shifts …

The Ten Commandments must now be displayed in all Louisiana’s public school classrooms. The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry, requires poster-sized copies with easily readable text.Why is this happening? Is it unprecedented?Actually, it echoes the 1970s global religious revival. Threatened by liberal modernity, conservatives worldwide…

Professor Robert Hefner has a tremendous new book, “Islam and Citizenship in Indonesia: Democracy and the Quest for an Inclusive Public Ethics”. It’s one of my favourite books of the year, drawing on thirty years of ethnographic research. Today, he joins “Rocking Our Priors”. We discuss:Indonesia’s religious historyWhy have Hinduism and Buddhism ha…

Michael Cook's "A History of the Muslim World" is my favourite book of 2024. Together, we discussed:- Did Islamic science weaken due to religious authoritarianism?- Why, in the Middle East and North Africa, were there so few peasant rebellions?- Theologically, how important was Ghazali? - What determined the rate at which people converted to Islam?…

Trust is down, worldwide. In India, Iran, Indonesia and Nigeria, less than 15% say that ‘most people can be trusted’. What’s going on? I suggest several likely mechanisms:1) Generalised distrust is correlated with strong family bonds2) Poorer countries have rapidly urbanised at a lower level of income3) Rule of law varies worldwide4) Political cont…

What led to the demise of foot-binding? by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Who are the world's most influential philosophers? by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Saumitra Jha (Associate Professor of Political Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business) joins me to discuss what prevents Hindu-Muslim conflict.We discuss his paper on "Trade, Institutions, and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia" https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/trade-institutions…

Over the 20th century, the entire world became more gender equal. Or so I thought. But Pakistan has rocked my priors. Female employment has slightly risen. Meanwhile, young Pakistani women are more sexist than their grandmothers. What is going on?Charts and graphs are on my Substack: https://www.ggd.world/p/is-pakistan-becoming-more-patriarchal…

The Patriarchal Political Order: Soledad Artiz Prillaman by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Slave-Raiding, Solidarity and Status in Africa by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Sub-Saharan Africa's Economic Stagnation by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

What Would Reduce Female Genital Cutting? by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Why is India's female labour force participation so low? And how might that change?Suhani Jalota and Lisa Ho share insights from their brilliant work in Mumbai and West Bengal. This discussion is superbly insightly and great fun. Stay tuned for jokes & data.Paper on Mumbai: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z3v4gxqpkvc4p9ntjy0ie/h?dl=0&e=1&preview=Jal…

If everyone is equal, it’s much more acceptable for women to get to the top.In societies where no one is special, men seem much more accepting of female leadership. Whereas in hierarchical cultures, where subordinates must bow to their bosses, female managers and politicians are more strongly disliked. They may even trigger backlash.This is a novel…

Patriarchy is reinforced by fraternal solidarity. The Athenian demos, German guilds, Tswana kgotla, Chinese imperial dynasties, Muslim Brotherhood and Indian caste panchayats all reinforced male dominance. As long as men are united, bound in collective loyalty, women are secondary.How might this change?On International Women’s Day, I’d like to high…

What’s the Future of the US Labor Movement? Suresh Naidu by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

East Asian businesses often go out drinking. Why is this such an important part of corporate culture, relative to other world regions?A month ago, I didn’t know. Now, after my interviews with people in China and Korea, the answer is very obvious.Door Dr Alice Evans

In some societies, collective harmony is more highly valued than self-expression. If people are reluctant to speak out, prior culture is more likely to persist unchallenged. Caring deeply about social approval amplifies fears of ostracism and motivates quiet conformity. Moreover, where self-assertion is strongly disliked, feminist activism is more …

What I am about to say may make you feel uncomfortable. Some may even find it offensive. In some circles, it’s still a distasteful taboo. Westerners rarely speak about it publicly, certainly not directly, even though most people definitely want it.As a social scientist, I am not so squeamish. So I’ll say it……

East Asian societies tend to idealise:- Meritocracy and reverence for education- Upward mobility and economic prosperity (trumping the afterlife)- Collective harmony.Door Dr Alice Evans

Hostile Sexism in South Korea: Professor Jouen Kim by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

Across much of the world, men and women think alike. However, in countries that are economically developed and culturally liberal, young men and women are polarising. As chronicled by John Burn-Murdoch, young women are increasingly likely to identify as ‘progressives’ and vote for leftists, while young men remain more conservative. What explains th…

Exogamy and endogamy aren’t just about who marries your daughter, but with whom you barter, truck and exchange. Marriage was fundamentally about economics.So how did exogamy and endogamy shape economics and culture?Door Dr Alice Evans

In the West economic development spawned individualism and the spirit of ‘68. Modernisation theorists predicted that growth would deliver liberalism worldwide. Inglehart and Welzel argued that post-industrial societies would champion self-expression. But in fact, this has not transpired. Many prosperous places - like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Sout…

In 1900, East and South Asia were extremely patriarchal. Men were revered as high status, while female sacrifice was glorified. By socialising women to marry, obey their in-laws and stay put, Asian families consolidated trusted networks of social cooperation. Since chastity was crucial for family honour, women were also tightly restricted. But, ove…

Why is Indian female labour force participation ultra low? To investigate, Suhani Jalota and Lisa Ho ran a Randomised Control Trial in Mumbai. They find that most women reject high-paying office jobs. This is not due to housework or childcare. Husbands said no. The paper: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/z3v4gxqpkvc4p9ntjy0ie/h?preview=WfH_JMP+(47).p…

Muslim societies are more likely to be authoritarian and marred in civil war. The big question is why?Faisal Ahmed presents a new theory: “Conquest and Rents”.He suggests that where Islam spread via military conquest, political authority was consolidated under a dictator. Political authority was then consolidated under a dictator, with elite slave …

Stopping Sexual Harassment by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

“The Two-Parent Privilege” by Dr Alice EvansDoor Dr Alice Evans

One feasible way to massively reduce violence is to tackle alcohol abuse. It is one of the single largest predictors of gender based violence worldwide, and it is not inevitable. Religious prohibitions, government bans and higher taxes can substantially reduce consumption.Many addicts wish they were not dependent on alcohol. I’m curious to learn wh…

A conversation with MIT Professor Yasheng HuangWhy is the CCP so resilient?How did the keju imperial examinations shape Chinese autocracy and culture?What does South Korea tell us about growth, democratisation and culture?Discussing his new book: https://yalebooks.co.uk/page/detail/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-east/?k=9780300266368…

Why do a quarter of European young men say they’ll vote for the far right?It’s not just men. In France, The Netherlands and Belgium, the far right is equally popular with women.Existing scholarship has emphasised regional development traps, economic anxiety, and cultural backlash. Quantitative researchers typically regress individual- or place-base…

All East Asian tigers have converged economically with rich industrialised democracies, but only some have converged culturally, in terms of gender equality. Why is this?Door Dr Alice Evans

Men comprise 90% of heads of state, 90% of Fortune 500 CEOs, and 90% of applications for patents. Prestigious positions are dominated by men.Why is this? Motherhood, discrimination, social networks and patriarchal institutions all play a role. But there may also be gender differences in personality. Men are typically more confident and competitive.…

Poverty entrenches cousin marriage and patriarchal controls.What happens when crop yields improve and families become wealthier?Mobabark, Kuhn & Peters's paper is here: https://spinup-000d1a-wp-offload-media.s3.amazonaws.com/faculty/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/06/marriage-market2.pdfDoor Dr Alice Evans

Monsoon rains can cause enormous damage. Extreme floods are becoming more frequent, alongside global warming. Extreme flooding may increase early marriage and early childbirth, while lowering schooling. This comes from an important new paper in the Journal of Population Economics, by Madhulika Khanna and Nishtha Kochhar.Paper link: https://link.spr…

Societies vary in their preference for female seclusion. But regardless of culture, female employment rises with job-creating growth. Singapore provides a perfect natural experiment, we can observe how 3 different ethnic groups responded to industrialisation.Door Dr Alice Evans

Panel data provides useful information about attitudinal change in that place. But even if certain countries show persistent traditionalism, we cannot assume this is due to culture. It’s possible - as in Eastern Europe - that many liberals have simply left.Door Dr Alice Evans

The UK government will publish a white paper on international development by the end of 2023. It will set out their approach to international development to 2030. How can they best support gender equality?I have 7 evidence-based suggestions - relating to jobs, climate, lead-poisoning, culture and migration.…