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Social Attitudes and Economic Development: An Epidemiological Approach

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Author Info
Algan, Yann
Cahuc, Pierre

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Abstract

In this paper we develop a new empirical approach to uncovering the impact of social attitudes on economic development. We first show that trust of second-generation Americans is significantly influenced by the country of origin of their forebears. In the spirit of the epidemiology literature, we interpret this phenomenon as the consequence of inherited social attitudes. We show that trust inherited by second-generation Americans from their country of origins has changed over time. This result allows us to use the inherited trust of second-generation Americans as a time-varying instrument to track back the evolution of trust in the home country of their parents. This strategy enables us to identify the specific impact of inherited trust on economic development relative to other traditional candidates, such as institutions and geography, by controlling for country fixed effects. We find that inherited trust has explained a substantial share of economic development on a sample of 30 countries during the post-war period, by improving total factor productivity and the accumulation of human and physical capital.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6403.

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Date of creation: Jul 2007
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6403

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Related research
Keywords: economic development; growth; social capital; trust;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
O10 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
P10 - Economic Systems - - Capitalist Systems - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2005. "The Roots of Low European Employment: Family Culture?," IZA Discussion Papers 1683, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Alesina, Alberto & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2002. "Who trusts others?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 207-234, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2009. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Attitudes," CESifo DICE Report, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 7(1), pages 8-12, 04. [Downloadable!]
  2. Guido Tabellini, 2007. "The Scope of Cooperation: Norms and Incentives," Levine's Working Paper Archive 321307000000000866, David K. Levine. [Downloadable!]
  3. Boeri, Tito, 2009. "Setting the Minimum Wage," IZA Discussion Papers 4335, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Guido Tabellini, 2007. "Institutions and Culture," Working Papers 330, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Guido Tabellini, 2008. "The Scope of Cooperation: Values and Incentives," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Mariko Klasing, 2008. "Culturally Risk Averse? – A Model of Economic Growth with Endogenous Culture," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-23, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
  7. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Andrei Shleifer, 2009. "Regulation and Distrust," Working Papers hal-00396268_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Aghion, Philippe & Algan, Yann & Cahuc, Pierre, 2008. "Can Policy Interact with Culture? Minimum Wage and the Quality of Labor Relations," IZA Discussion Papers 3680, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Marie-Anne Valfort, 2007. "Containing ethnic conflicts through ethical voting? Evidence from Ethiopia," HiCN Working Papers 35, Households in Conflict Network. [Downloadable!]
  10. Fogli, Alessandra & Veldkamp, Laura, 2007. "Nature or Nurture? Learning and Female Labour Force Dynamics," CEPR Discussion Papers 6324, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Erzo F.P. Luttmer & Monica Singhal, 2008. "Culture, Context, and the Taste for Redistribution," NBER Working Papers 14268, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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