Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/279265 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10515
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Results from cultural evolutionary theory often suggest that social learning can lead cultural groups to differ markedly in the same environment. Put differently, cultural evolutionary processes can in principle stabilise behavioural differences between groups, which in turn could lead selection pressures to vary across cultural groups. Separating the effects of culture from other confounds, however, is often a daunting, sometimes intractable challenge for the working empiricist. To meet this challenge, we exploit a cultural border dividing Switzerland in ways that are independent of institutional, environmental, and genetic variation. Using a regression discontinuity design, we estimate discontinuities at the border in terms of preferences related to fertility and mortality, the two basic components of genetic fitness. We specifically select six referenda related to health and fertility and analyse differences in the proportion of yes votes across municipalities on the two sides of the border. Our results show multiple discontinuities and thus indicate a potential role of culture to shape preferences and choices related to individual health and fertility. These findings further suggest that at least one of the two groups, in order to uphold its cultural values, has supported policies that could impose fitness costs on individuals in the group.
Subjects: 
gene-culture coevolution
cultural evolution
social learning
cultural variation
fitness
cultural border
regression discontinuity design
JEL: 
Z10
Z13
D72
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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