演講者簡介 : Dr. Jean-Paul Carvalho received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oxford in 2009. He is currently a Professor of Political Economy at the University of Oxford. His research combines game-theoretic models of population dynamics with historical analysis. It draws upon and contributes to a number of emerging fields, including the economics of identity, culture, and religion.
演講摘要 : We study the evolution of belief systems that suppress productive effort, such as beliefs about envy, witchcraft, the importance of luck for success, or disdain for competitive effort. In our framework, demotivating beliefs evolve when interactions are zero-sum, i.e., where one person's gain comes at others' expense. They improve material welfare but reduce subjective well-being. The model delivers testable predictions about the relationship between the degree of zero-sumness, demotivating beliefs, material welfare, subjective well-being, and long-run economic development. We find that the predictions are supported by data from two samples in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as global evidence from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study.
