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The Cultural Divide

Author

Listed:
  • Klaus Desmet
  • Romain Wacziarg

Abstract

We study the evolution of cultural divides both theoretically and empirically. We propose a model of cultural change where intergenerational transmission and forces of social influence determine the distribution of cultural traits in society. We conduct an empirical investigation of the evolution of cultural heterogeneity in the USA between 1972 and 2018, using the General Social Survey. In recent decades, cultural heterogeneity between individuals has risen. Cultural divides between identity groups display contrasted patterns: increasing along lines of religion and political orientation, mildly U-shaped along income and racial lines, and flat or decreasing for gender and urbanicity. We interpret these empirical findings in light of our model, arguing that changes in modes of interaction within and across groups can explain the observed dynamics of cultural heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Klaus Desmet & Romain Wacziarg, 2021. "The Cultural Divide," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(637), pages 2058-2088.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:131:y:2021:i:637:p:2058-2088.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueaa139
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    Cited by:

    1. Colson-Sihra, Eve & De Sousa, José & Mayer, Thierry, 2025. "Tastes, geography and culture," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    2. Marianne Bertrand & Emir Kamenica, 2023. "Coming Apart? Cultural Distances in the United States over Time," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 100-141, October.
    3. Jaschke Philipp & Sulin Sardoschau & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2136, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    4. Riccardo Turati, 2020. "Network-based Connectedness and the Diffusion of Cultural Traits," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2020012, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    5. Riccardo Turati, 2025. "Networks abroad and culture: global individual-level evidence," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-42, March.
    6. Yasmine Elkhateeb & Riccardo Turati & Jérôme Valette, 2025. "Immigration, Identity Choices, and Cultural Diversity," Working Papers 2025-18, CEPII research center.
    7. Philipp Jaschke & Sulin Sardoschau & Marco Tabellini, 2023. "Scared Straight? Threat and Assimilation of Refugees in Germany," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 384, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    8. Rapoport & Hillel & Sulin Sardoschau & Arthur Silve & Hillel Rapoport, 2020. "Migration and Cultural Change," CESifo Working Paper Series 8547, CESifo.
    9. Jose de Sousa & Eve Sihra & Thierry Mayer, 2019. "Market Integration and Convergence in Consumption Patterns," 2019 Meeting Papers 1178, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Daria Denti & Alessandro Crociata & Alessandra Faggian, 2021. "Knocking on Hell’s door. Dismantling hate with cultural consumption," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2131, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2021.
    11. Francesco Giavazzi & Ivan Petkov & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2019. "Culture: persistence and evolution," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 117-154, June.
    12. Kim, Young-Chul & Loury, Glenn C., 2019. "To be, or not to be: Stereotypes, identity choice and group inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 36-52.
    13. Riccardo Turati, 2021. "Do you want to migrate to the United States? Migration intentions and Cultural Traits in Latin America," Working Papers wpdea2101, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    14. Raux, Morgan, 2023. "Cultural differences and immigrants’ wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    15. Rosella Nicolini & Juan A. Piedra-Peña & José Luis Roig Sabaté & Riccardo Turati, 2025. "Diversity and polarization between natives and immigrants: the case of Barcelona," Working Papers wpdea2519, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    16. Insler, Michael & Rahman, Ahmed S. & Smith, Katherine, 2021. "Tracking the Herd with a Shotgun — Why Do Peers Influence College Major Selection?," IZA Discussion Papers 14412, IZA Network @ LISER.
    17. Bowen, T. Renee & Galperti, Simone & Dmitriev, Danil, 2021. "Learning from Shared News: When Abundant Information Leads to Belief Polarization," CEPR Discussion Papers 15789, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Carvalho, Jean-Paul & Pradelski, Bary SR, 2022. "Identity and underrepresentation: Interactions between race and gender," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    19. Arthur Blouin & Julian Dyer, 2021. "How Cultures Converge: An Empirical Investigation of Trade and Linguistic Exchange," Working Papers tecipa-691, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    20. Tabellini, Marco & Fouka, Vasiliki & Mazumder, Soumyajit, 2020. "From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 14396, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Raquel Fernández & Sahar Parsa, 2022. "Gay Politics Goes Mainstream: Democrats, Republicans and Same‐sex Relationships," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(S1), pages 86-109, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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