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International Trade, Factor Mobility and the Persistence of Cultural-Institutional Diversity

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  • Marianna Belloc
  • Samuel Bowles

Abstract

Cultural and institutional differences among nations may result in differences in the ratios of marginal costs of goods in autarchy and thus be the basis of specialization and comparative advantage, as long as these differences are not eliminated by trade. We provide an evolutionary model of endogenous preferences and institutions under autarchy, trade and factor mobility in which multiple asymptotically stable cultural-institutional conventions may exist, among which transitions may occur as a result of decentralized and un-coordinated actions of employers or employees. We show that: i) specialization and trade may arise and enhance welfare even when the countries are identical other than their cultural-institutional equilibria; ii) trade liberalization does not lead to convergence, it reinforces the cultural-institutional differences upon which comparative advantage is based and may thus impede even Pareto-improving cultural-institutional transitions; and iii) by contrast, greater mobility of factors of production favors decentralized transitions to a superior cultural-institutional convention by reducing the minimum number of cultural or institutional innovators necessary to induce a transition. JEL Categories: D23, F15, F16, C73
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  • Marianna Belloc & Samuel Bowles, 2010. "International Trade, Factor Mobility and the Persistence of Cultural-Institutional Diversity," Levine's Working Paper Archive 661465000000000051, David K. Levine.
    • Handle: RePEc:cla:levarc:661465000000000051
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    Cited by:

    1. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2014. "Trust, Well-Being and Growth: New Evidence and Policy Implications," Post-Print hal-01169659, HAL.
    2. Sascha O. Becker & Katrin Boeckh & Christa Hainz & Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long‐Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 40-74, February.
    3. Enrico Spolaore & Romain Wacziarg, 2013. "How Deep Are the Roots of Economic Development?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 325-369, June.
    4. Fabio Landini, 2012. "The Evolution of Control in the Digital Economy," Department of Economics University of Siena 655, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    5. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2014. "Trust, Well-Being and Growth: New Evidence and Policy Implications," Post-Print hal-01169659, HAL.
    6. Belloc Marianna, 2009. "Cross-Cultural Trade and Institutional Stability," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-25, October.
    7. Erkan Gürpinar, 2013. "Notes on Institutional Complementarities and Organizational Forms," Department of Economics University of Siena 678, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    8. Sebastian Krapohl & Václav Ocelík & Dawid M. Walentek, 2021. "The instability of globalization: applying evolutionary game theory to global trade cooperation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 31-51, July.
    9. Marianna Belloc & Ugo Pagano, 2008. "Politics-Business Interaction Paths," Working Papers in Public Economics 109, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    10. Schild, Christopher-Johannes, 2013. "Generalized trust and regional innovation activity," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 02/2012, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics, revised 2013.
    11. Algan, Yann & Cahuc, Pierre, 2014. "Trust, Growth, and Well-Being: New Evidence and Policy Implications," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 2, pages 49-120, Elsevier.
    12. Christian Bjørnskov & Niklas Potrafke, 2012. "Political Ideology and Economic Freedom Across Canadian Provinces," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 143-166.
    13. Schild, Christopher-Johannes & Wrede, Matthias, 2015. "Cultural identity, mobility and decentralization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 323-333.
    14. Samuel Bowles, 2010. "The Coevolution of Institutions and Preferences: History and Theory," Chapters, in: Neri Salvadori (ed.), Institutional and Social Dynamics of Growth and Distribution, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2013. "Social preferences," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Stefano Zamagni (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise, chapter 33, pages 327-335, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/33o86cn6qp83dot08iir97915s is not listed on IDEAS

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    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

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