Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18158
Authors: Oded Galor; Marc Klemp; Daniel Wainstock
Abstract: Evidence suggests that the prehistoric out-of-Africa migration has impacted the degree of intra-population genetic and phenotypic diversity across the globe. This paper provides the first evidence that this migration has shaped cultural diversity. Leveraging a folklore catalogue of 958 oral traditions across the world, we find that ethnic groups further away from Africa along the migratory routes have lower folkloric diversity. This pattern is consistent with the compression of genetic, phenotypic, and phonemic traits along the out-of-Africa migration routes, setting conditions for the emergence and proliferation of differential cultural diversity and economic development across the world.
Keywords: Diversity; Culture; Folklore
JEL Codes: O10; Z10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| migratory distance from Africa (N97) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| migratory distance from Africa (N97) | motifs in oral traditions (Z13) |
| migratory distance from Africa (N97) | total number of motifs (C69) |
| ecological diversity (Q57) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| absolute distance from the equator (N96) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| geographical isolation (R12) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| suitability of land for agriculture (Q15) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| ancestral geographical characteristics (Z10) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |
| ethnographic characteristics (Z13) | folkloric diversity (Z10) |