Ethnographic Records, Folklore, and AI

Stelios Michalopoulos

No 20137, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: In this Handbook chapter, I examine how integrating ethnographic and folklore records has shaped research on culture and economics in the 21st century. Advances in text analysis techniques and the incorporation of historical and satellite data have transformed the field. I explore how George Peter Murdock's ethnographic contributions and Yuri Berezkin's seminal folklore motif index have been utilized to shed light on the roots of comparative development. I conclude by proposing a methodology for leveraging Large Language Models to extract cultural insights from folklore motifs, demonstrating how ancestral narratives can complement ethnographic records and offer valuable perspectives on societal norms and the historical forces shaping economic behavior today

Keywords: Folklore; Culture; Development; History (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 Z10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-04
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