Roots of Cultural Diversity

Oded Galor, Marc Klemp and Daniel Crisóstomo Wainstock ()
Additional contact information
Daniel Crisóstomo Wainstock: Brown University

No 17481, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study reveals the pivotal impact of the prehistoric out-of-Africa migration on global variation in the degree of cultural diversity within ethnic and national populations. Drawing on novel diversity measures—encompassing folkloric and musical traditions among indigenous ethnic groups, as well as norms, values, and attitudes in modern societies—an intriguing pattern emerges: societies whose ancestors migrated farther from humanity's cradle in Africa exhibit lower cultural diversity. These striking findings underscore: (i) the profound role of cultural dynamics in shaping the enduring effects of the out-of-Africa migration on social cohesion, innovativeness, and living standards; (ii) the origins of persistent global variations in cultural expressions within an increasingly interconnected world; and (iii) the roots of variations in societal adaptability to evolving economic and technological landscapes.

Keywords: diversity; culture; out-of-africa; folkloric diversity; musical diversity; social norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 64 pages
Date: 2024-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp17481.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Roots of Cultural Diversity (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17481

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().