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Revisiting the Ancient Origins of Gender Inequality

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  • Trung V. Vu

Abstract

This paper probes the robustness and plausibility of the long-term impact of traditional plough use on contemporary gender roles established by Alesina, Giuliano and Nunn [Quarterly Journal of Economics (2013) Vol. 128, pp. 469 – 530]. It finds that the reduced-form women-plough relationship is robust to testing a falsification hypothesis, using alternative proxies for gender inequality, and accounting for selection bias from unobservables and spatial dependence. Further evidence suggests that ancestral plough adoption affects today’s gender inequality through shaping historically persistent gender-biased norms reflected in oral traditions. Additionally, the culturally embodied, intergenerationally transmitted impact of traditional plough use on gender inequality is significantly lower among societies whose ancestors were exposed to unstable climatic environments during the period 500 – 1900 CE.

Suggested Citation

  • Trung V. Vu, 2025. "Revisiting the Ancient Origins of Gender Inequality," CAMA Working Papers 2025-11, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:een:camaaa:2025-11
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    File URL: https://crawford-prod.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/2025-02/11_2025_Vu_0.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    plough; gender inequality; female empowerment; replication;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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