Folklore

Michalopoulos, Stelios; Xue, Melanie Meng

doi:10.3386/w25430

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Economists are just now discovering the economic relevance of folklore (the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of communities that are inter-generationally transmitted by word of mouth) (Michalopoulos and Xue, 2019). Understanding the cultural background of variation in NCS would clearly improve our current economic models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Wuepper

Zilberman

Sauer

2019

Climate and Development

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In the context of accelerating climate change, it is important to understand the determinants of farmers' adaptive capacity. Here, we focus on the role of non-cognitive skills, including perceived self-efficacy, locus of control beliefs, and time preferences. Our sample consists of 398 pineapple farmers in Southern Ghana and we rely on instrumental variables to identify the causal effect. We find that those with higher non-cognitive skills are more likely to respond to the adversities of climate change by adopting a climate smart technology (mulching). When exploring why, we find that they perceive their costs of innovation adoption as lower.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Wuepper

Zilberman

Sauer

2019

Climate and Development

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“…Likewise, Lowes (2017) refined Murdock's classification of family structure in DRC using ethnographic maps and information from other anthropologist (Vansina (1990)). Finally, Michalopoulos and Xue (2018) leverage an unutilized resource, namely the oral tradition of roughly 1 000 pre-industrial societies. Utilizing natural language processing techniques, besides providing alternative measures for traits already recorded in the Ethnographic Atlas (that can be used to reduce measurement error), extend the breadth of the information recorded (including the importance of trade) as well as the group coverage.…”

Section: Concept Of Ethnicitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Legacies and African Development

Michalopoulos

Papaioannou

2020

Journal of Economic Literature

Self Cite

113

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As Africa's role on the global stage is rising, so does the need to understand the shadow of history on the continent's economy and polity. We discuss recent works that shed light on Africa's colonial and precolonial legacies. The emerging corpus is remarkably interdisciplinary. Archives, ethnographic materials, georeferenced censuses, surveys, and satellite imagery are some of the sources often combined to test influential conjectures put forward in African historiography. Exploiting within-country variation and employing credible, albeit mostly local, identification techniques, this recent literature has uncovered strong evidence of historical continuity as well as instances of rupture in the evolution of the African economy. The exposition proceeds in reverse chronological order. Starting from the colonial period, which has been linked to almost all of Africa's post-independence maladies, we first review works that uncover the lasting legacies of colonial investments in infrastructure and human capital and quantify the role of various extractive institutions, such as indirect rule and oppression associated with concessionary agreements. Second, we discuss the long-lasting impact of the "Scramble for Africa" which led to ethnic partitioning and the creation of artificial modern states. Third, we cover studies on the multi-faceted legacy of the slave trades. Fourth, we analyze the contemporary role of various precolonial, ethnic-specific, institutional and social traits, such as political centralization. We conclude by offering some thoughts on what we view as open questions.

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“…In our case, the focus is on ideas, beliefs and norms about what is morally right or wrong. Finally, the importance of informal "stories" in the formation of economic actors' beliefs has recently been emphasized by Shiller (2017), and a few other recent papers are beginning to explore the roles played by narratives, memes or folklore (e.g., Mukand and Rodrik 2016, Barrera et al 2017, Michalopoulos and Meng Xue 2018.…”

Section: Related Economics Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives, Imperatives, and Moral Reasoning

Bénabou¹,

Falk²,

Tirole³

2018

147

135

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By downplaying externalities, magnifying the cost of moral behavior, or suggesting not being pivotal, exculpatory narratives can allow individuals to maintain a positive image when in fact acting in a morally questionable way. Conversely, responsibilizing narratives can help sustain better social norms. We investigate when narratives emerge from a principal or the actor himself, how they are interpreted and transmitted by others, and when they spread virally. We then turn to how narratives compete with imperatives (general moral rules or precepts) as alternative modes of communication to persuade agents to behave in desirable ways.

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Folklore

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Historical Legacies and African Development

Narratives, Imperatives, and Moral Reasoning

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