Brave Old World: On the Historical Roots of Interstate Conflicts

Marcello D'Amato () and Francesco Flaviano Russo ()
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Marcello D'Amato: University of Naples Suor Orsola Benincasa, CSEF and CELPE., https://csef.it/people/marcello-damato/
Francesco Flaviano Russo: Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF, https://csef.it/people/francesco-flaviano-russo/

CSEF Working Papers from Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy

Abstract: We show empirically that interstate conflicts are less likely among countries that share more of their oral tradition, as enshrined in the folktales. Popular tales and narratives are related to expectations and beliefs held about the other parties behavior: larger similarity in the systems of beliefs in the populations - cultural relatedness- reduces information frictions in dispute resolutions and negotiation failures between states. To validate this interpretation, we show that countries with more oral tradition in common are more likely to form military alliances, more likely to participate to the same international organizations, more likely to vote similarly in the UN general assembly, more likely to trade with each other and, in case a conflicts breaks out, more likely to terminate it with a negotiation.

Keywords: Ethnic Culture; Narratives; Cultural distances, Interstate conflicts. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F5 N4 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul and nep-evo
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