We examine a determinant of cultural persistence that has emerged from a class of models
in evolutionary anthropology: the similarity of the environment across generations. Within …

The conventional theory about the origin of the state is that the adoption of farming
increased land productivity, which led to the production of food surplus. This surplus was a …

Familiar explanations of why hunter-gatherers first took up farming—superior labor
productivity, population pressure, or adverse climate—receive little support from recent …

Agriculture is arguably the most climate-sensitive sector of the economy. Growing concerns
about anthropogenic climate change have increased research interest in assessing its …

It is now abundantly clear that social norms channel behaviour and impact economic
development. This insight leads to the question: How do social norms evolve? This survey …

The paper provides a formal framework identifying both the origins and interaction of a
culture of cooperation and inclusive political institutions. When elite members and citizens …

In this article we document a reversal of fortune within the Western agricultural core,
showing that regions which made early transition to Neolithic agriculture are now poorer …

We study the effects of an early introduction of agriculture (Neolithic Transition) on modern
agglomeration, using a new dataset on carbon dated organic materials found at …

It is now abundantly clear that social norms channel behavior and impact economic
development. This insight leads to the question: How do social norms evolve? This survey …

To shed light on the origins of (norms of) cooperation, we study time-inconsistent elites trying
to cooperate in an investment activity with non-elites. The elites can entice the non-elites into …