Elites and civil society
The DEMS Economics Seminar series is proud to host
Alberto Bisin
(New York University)
The seminar will be based on two papers:
On the joint evolution of culture and institutions: Elites and civil society (with Thierry Verdier)
Abstract In this paper we provide an abstract modeling of the interaction between culture and institutions and their effects on economic variables of interest, notably, e.g., long-run economic activity. We characterize conditions on the socio-economic environment such that culture and institutions complement (resp. substitute) each other, giving rise to a multiplier effect which amplifies (resp. dampens) their combined ability to spur socio-economic activity. We show how the joint dynamics of culture and institutions may display interesting non-ergodic behavior, hysteresis, oscillations, depending on the form of the interaction between culture and institutions. The model can be specialized to study the political economy of elites and civil society for the determination of long-run socio-economic activity in different contexts. We illustrate this by studying the transition away from extractive institutions and the formation of civic capital in two example societies.
LATE for history (with Andrea Moro)
Abstract In Historical Economics, Persistence studies document the persistence of some historical phenomenon or leverage this persistence to identify causal relationships of interest in the present. In this chapter, we analyze the implications of allowing for heterogeneous treatment effects in these studies. We delineate their common empirical structure, argue that heterogeneous treatment effects are likely in their context, and propose minimal abstract models that help interpret results and guide the development of empirical strategies to uncover the mechanisms generating the effects.
The seminar will be in person. Room: Aula del Consiglio DEMS, U7-4th floor