Rice farming, culture and democracy

James Ang, Jakob Madsen and Wen Wang

European Economic Review, 2021, vol. 136, issue C

Abstract: This paper proposes that societies with a rice farming legacy tend to be less democratic today than societies with a wheat farming legacy. We argue that rice cultivation is associated with the adoption of a collectivist culture, which in turn fosters greater conformity pressures on political norms and deters democratization. Conversely, a wheat farming legacy leads to the development of individualism, which in turn promotes democracy. Using the rice-wheat suitability ratio for a sample of 146 countries as an exogenous variable for rice farming culture, we find that the rice-wheat suitability ratio is a deep-rooted determinant for the formation of democratic institutions through a culture of collectivism vs. individualism.

Keywords: Deep-rooted determinants of democracy; Rice suitability; Wheat suitability; Culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H10 O50 P48 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:136:y:2021:i:c:s0014292121001318

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103778

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