Research

Working Papers 

Male Dominance and Cultural Extinction, with Ana Tur-Prats

Abstract: Why do some cultures go extinct while others prevail? In this paper, we show that a society's risk of cultural extinction, proxied by language loss, is shaped by its ancestral gender norms and by how these norms differ from those of competing cultures. Using the Ethnologue and the Male Dominance Index for a global sample of languages, we start by showing that languages from more gender-equal societies face a higher likelihood of extinction than those from male-dominant societies. We propose a conceptual framework in which male-dominant societies are more expansionist via two channels: (i) military capacity sustained through surplus extraction, and (ii) demographic pressure through women's specialization in domestic and reproductive labor. As a result, they expand at the expense of more gender-egalitarian groups. We test this prediction in two empirical settings. Leveraging European colonization as a natural experiment, we find that Indigenous societies with more gender-equal norms than their colonizers are more vulnerable to cultural extinction. We examine alternative pre-colonial societal arrangements and find that cultural extinction is best explained by asymmetries in male dominance rather than in hierarchy or dominance more broadly. Exploiting local variation in neighboring groups' gender structure across Africa, we further show that languages from gender-egalitarian societies are less likely to survive in grid cells located close to male-dominant neighbors, with military capacity and population pressure predicting language expansion across the continent.

Gender Norms and the Quantity–Quality Tradeoff, with Matthew Collins and Helmut Rainer

Abstract: Why does the quantity-quality tradeoff operate in some societies but not others? This paper studies the impact of free primary education (FPE) on parents' fertility decisions in sub-Saharan Africa and how these effects depend on prevailing gender norms. Leveraging the staggered rollout of FPE across 17 countries and a within-ethnicity design, we find that the reform reduces completed fertility by 0.25 births per woman. Consistent with the tradeoff, reduced fertility coincides with both improved child survival and school enrollment. Linking these data with ethnic-level cultural norms of male dominance, we show that these effects arise exclusively among groups with low male dominance. We also find evidence that FPE strengthens women's empowerment, predominantly among groups with low male dominance. This is reflected in higher divorce probabilities, lower acceptance of intimate partner violence, greater participation in household decisions, and increased media engagement. A simple conceptual framework combining the Beckerian quantity-quality model with cultural norms about fertility limitation rationalizes these findings. The framework suggests that lower schooling costs create incentives to reduce fertility, but prevailing gender norms determine whether households act on those incentives. Overall, our findings show that policies reducing the cost of investing in children do not generate uniform demographic responses; instead, their effects depend critically on the cultural environment in which households make fertility decisions.

Publications

Cultural Distance and Ethnic Civil Conflict,  American Economic Review, Volume 115, no. 4, April 2025

Coverage: VoxDevTalks, AEA Research Highlights

Cultural Distance and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, with Ana Tur-Prats,  The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 138, Issue 3, August 2023 

Coverage: Science, 5centims.cat, VoxDevTalks 

Colonialism and Female Empowerment: A Two-Sided Legacy, with Helmut Rainer, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 151, Article 102666,  June 2021
Link to Working Paper 

Coverage: Frontiers in African Economic History 

The Legacies of War for Ukraine, with Ellen Munroe, Anastasiia Nosach, Moises Pedrozo, Juan Felipe Riaño, Ana Tur-Prats, and Felipe Valencia, Economic Policy, Volume 38, Issue 114, April 2023 

Greater than the Sum of the Parts? Evidence on Mechanisms Operating in Women’s Groups, with Lucía Díaz-Martin, Akshara Gopalan, and Seema Jayachandran, The World Bank Research Observer, Volume 38, Issue 1, February 2023 

Coverage: World Bank Development Impact Blog Post 

Other Writings

Discussion of "Breaking through the ethnic growth trap" by Saumitra Jha, Economic Policy, Volume 40, Issue 123, July 2025

What Works to Enhance Women’s Agency: Cross-Cutting Lessons from Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies, J-PAL Working Paper, with Wei Chang, Lucía Díaz-Martin, Akshara Gopalan, Seema Jayachandran, and Claire Walsh  

Coverage: J-PAL Evidence Review