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Book Translations as Idea Flows: The Effects of the Collapse of Communism on the Diffusion of Knowledge

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  • Ran Abramitzky
  • Isabelle Sin

Abstract

We use book translations as a new measure of international idea flows and study the effects of Communism's collapse in Eastern Europe on these flows. Using novel data on 800,000 translations and difference-in-differences approaches, we show that while translations between Communist languages decreased by two thirds with the collapse, Western-to-Communist translations increased by a factor of four and quickly converged to Western levels. Convergence was more pronounced in the fields of applied and social sciences, and was more complete in Satellite and Baltic than in Soviet countries. We discuss how these patterns help us understand how repressive institutions and preferences towards Western European ideas shaped the international diffusion of knowledge.

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  • Ran Abramitzky & Isabelle Sin, 2014. "Book Translations as Idea Flows: The Effects of the Collapse of Communism on the Diffusion of Knowledge," NBER Working Papers 20023, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20023
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    2. George J. Borjas & Kirk B. Doran, 2015. "Cognitive Mobility: Labor Market Responses to Supply Shocks in the Space of Ideas," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(S1), pages 109-145.
    3. Cantoni, Davide & Yuchtman, Noam, 2013. "The political economy of educational content and development: Lessons from history," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 233-244.
    4. Ina Ganguli & Fabian Waldinger, 2024. "War and Science in Ukraine," Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 165-188.
    5. Becker, Sascha O. & Francisco J. Pino & Vidal-Robert, Jordi, 2021. "Freedom of the Press? Catholic Censorship during the Counter-Reformation," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1356, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    6. George J. Borjas & Kirk B. Doran, 2015. "Which Peers Matter? The Relative Impacts of Collaborators, Colleagues, and Competitors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1104-1117, December.
    7. Rupérez Micola, Augusto & Aparicio Fenoll, Ainoa & Banal-Estañol, Albert & Bris, Arturo, 2019. "TV or not TV? The impact of subtitling on English skills," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 487-499.
    8. Ran Abramitzky, 2011. "Lessons from the Kibbutz on the Equality-Incentives Trade-Off," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 185-208, Winter.
    9. Isaac Holloway, 2014. "Foreign entry, quality, and cultural distance: product-level evidence from US movie exports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(2), pages 371-392, May.
    10. Orazbayev, Sultan, 2017. "International knowledge flows and the administrative barriers to mobility," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1655-1665.
    11. David de la Croix & Frédéric Docquier & Alice Fabre & Robert Stelter, 2024. "The Academic Market and The Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000–1800)," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1541-1589.
    12. Aurelian Plopeanu, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” & Peter Foldvari & Bas van Leeuwen & Jan Luiten van Zanden, 2012. "Where do ideas come from? Book production and patents in global and temporal perspective," Working Papers 0033, Utrecht University, Centre for Global Economic History.
    13. Djankov, Simeon & Nikolova, Elena, 2018. "Communism as the unhappy coming," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 708-721.
    14. Michela Giorcelli & Nicola Lacetera & Astrid Marinoni, 2022. "How does scientific progress affect cultural changes? A digital text analysis," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 415-452, September.
    15. Andrew Dickens, 2018. "Population relatedness and cross-country idea flows: evidence from book translations," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 367-386, December.
    16. Michela Giorcelli & Nicola Lacetera & Astrid Marinoni, 2019. "Does Scientific Progress Affect Culture? A Digital Text Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 7499, CESifo.

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    JEL classification:

    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • N70 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N74 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • P30 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - General
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems
    • P52 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Studies of Particular Economies

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