A large literature documents persistent impacts of formal historical institutions. However, very little is known about how these institutions interact with ancestral traditions to determine long-term economic and social outcomes. This paper addresses this question by studying the persistent...

How do demographic shocks affect the long-run evolution of female labor force participation and gender norms? This paper focuses on the emergence of a female biased sex ratio in Africa as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade. This historical shock affected the division of labor along...

French Abstract: [L'eau, une bénédiction et une malédiction : comment résoudre les conflits liés à l'eau en Afrique de l'Ouest?] – Pour de nombreux Africains, l'eau n'est pas seulement la source de la vie, mais aussi un moyen de purification et un centre de régénération. Les rituels...

Research reports that women are more likely than men to participate in highbrow cultural activities, but we do not know whether this gap develops within the family at an early age or is the outcome of economic and positional differences between men and women later in life. We use a Danish data...