Seminar: Economics of Culture

Students will read and discuss the emerging literature on the economics of culture, become familiar with commonly used sources of data on cultural values and beliefs, and address the empirical challenges of using this data to evaluate economic theories of culture. Topics will include 1) the measurement of cultural values, 2) theories of socialization, 3) religion and economic outcomes, 4) cultural beliefs, attitudes toward government redistribution and the welfare state, 5) culture as informal institutions: trade and exchange in the absence of law, management of collective goods, and informal risk-sharing arrangements, 6) family and kinship networks as economic institutions, 7) the economic role of trust, 8) trust, social capital and political institutions, 9) immigration and theories of acculturation, 10) cultural values and institutional quality. Students will conduct a significant independent research project on the economics of culture.