Cultural leader and the dynamics of assimilation

Thierry Verdier and Yves Zenou

Journal of Economic Theory, 2018, vol. 175, issue C, 374-414

Abstract: This paper studies the population dynamics of cultural traits in a model of intergenerational cultural transmission with a perfectly-forward looking cultural leader. We show that there exists a threshold size in terms of population above which the cultural leader becomes active. We also show that a policy affecting some key parameters (such as the cost of providing the religious good) has a different impact in the short run and in the long run due to over-reactions or under-reactions of the different cultural groups. Finally, we study the cultural competition between two forward-looking cultural leaders with opposite objectives. We show that the steady-state cultural equilibrium depends on the time preference structure of the two leaders.

Keywords: Cultural substituability; Integration; Forward-looking leader (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J15 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Cultural leader and the dynamics of assimilation (2018)
Working Paper: Cultural leader and the dynamics of assimilation (2018)
Working Paper: Cultural Leaders and the Dynamics of Assimilation (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:175:y:2018:i:c:p:374-414

DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2018.01.019

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