Oliver Haythorne
@josephrohrbach.bsky.social
DPhil Economic & Social History @ New College, Oxford;
economics, political economy, Holy Roman history, mathematical ecology, other things that interest me
economics, political economy, Holy Roman history, mathematical ecology, other things that interest me
Ma argues that this association between traditionalism and low economic growth continues to hold today.
He finds that sage temples and birthplaces are also associated with low rates of journal publications and intellectual activity in modern history, perhaps showing cultural backwardness.
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He finds that sage temples and birthplaces are also associated with low rates of journal publications and intellectual activity in modern history, perhaps showing cultural backwardness.
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February 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Ma argues that this association between traditionalism and low economic growth continues to hold today.
He finds that sage temples and birthplaces are also associated with low rates of journal publications and intellectual activity in modern history, perhaps showing cultural backwardness.
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He finds that sage temples and birthplaces are also associated with low rates of journal publications and intellectual activity in modern history, perhaps showing cultural backwardness.
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However, it's possible that there's reverse causation.
As such, Ma looked at the link between firm foundations and the birthplaces of the sages, centuries or millennia earlier. That should be unrelated with characteristics of the area later when the shrines were built. The association holds.
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As such, Ma looked at the link between firm foundations and the birthplaces of the sages, centuries or millennia earlier. That should be unrelated with characteristics of the area later when the shrines were built. The association holds.
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February 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
However, it's possible that there's reverse causation.
As such, Ma looked at the link between firm foundations and the birthplaces of the sages, centuries or millennia earlier. That should be unrelated with characteristics of the area later when the shrines were built. The association holds.
6/
As such, Ma looked at the link between firm foundations and the birthplaces of the sages, centuries or millennia earlier. That should be unrelated with characteristics of the area later when the shrines were built. The association holds.
6/
He found initially that there was a negative association between the density of sage temples in an area and the rate of business foundations later in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This might show that areas which worshipped ancient wisdom were less likely to take up on modern economic ideas.
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This might show that areas which worshipped ancient wisdom were less likely to take up on modern economic ideas.
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February 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
He found initially that there was a negative association between the density of sage temples in an area and the rate of business foundations later in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This might show that areas which worshipped ancient wisdom were less likely to take up on modern economic ideas.
5/
This might show that areas which worshipped ancient wisdom were less likely to take up on modern economic ideas.
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Ma Chicheng set out to investigate this in a recent paper in the Journal of Economic History.
He suggested that we might be able to use temples to the "sages", the founts of ancient knowledge, as proxies for more traditional forms of culture in Qing Chinese history.
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He suggested that we might be able to use temples to the "sages", the founts of ancient knowledge, as proxies for more traditional forms of culture in Qing Chinese history.
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February 22, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Ma Chicheng set out to investigate this in a recent paper in the Journal of Economic History.
He suggested that we might be able to use temples to the "sages", the founts of ancient knowledge, as proxies for more traditional forms of culture in Qing Chinese history.
3/
He suggested that we might be able to use temples to the "sages", the founts of ancient knowledge, as proxies for more traditional forms of culture in Qing Chinese history.
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THREAD: How Does Culture Impact Economic Growth?
Economists are not famous for their discussions of culture and religion. However, increasingly they have come to recognize that culture might play a role in influencing long-term economic growth.
China might provide an interesting case study.
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Economists are not famous for their discussions of culture and religion. However, increasingly they have come to recognize that culture might play a role in influencing long-term economic growth.
China might provide an interesting case study.
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February 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
THREAD: How Does Culture Impact Economic Growth?
Economists are not famous for their discussions of culture and religion. However, increasingly they have come to recognize that culture might play a role in influencing long-term economic growth.
China might provide an interesting case study.
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Economists are not famous for their discussions of culture and religion. However, increasingly they have come to recognize that culture might play a role in influencing long-term economic growth.
China might provide an interesting case study.
1/
Unbelievably excited to own this now…
February 20, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Unbelievably excited to own this now…
Looking more specifically at the US, there are some interesting socioeconomic and demographic correlations.
For example, it comes out that white people and rich people tend to have lower Cross-Gender Friending Ratios than poor, black, or Hispanic people. Religion's role is a bit more ambiguous.
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For example, it comes out that white people and rich people tend to have lower Cross-Gender Friending Ratios than poor, black, or Hispanic people. Religion's role is a bit more ambiguous.
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February 17, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Looking more specifically at the US, there are some interesting socioeconomic and demographic correlations.
For example, it comes out that white people and rich people tend to have lower Cross-Gender Friending Ratios than poor, black, or Hispanic people. Religion's role is a bit more ambiguous.
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For example, it comes out that white people and rich people tend to have lower Cross-Gender Friending Ratios than poor, black, or Hispanic people. Religion's role is a bit more ambiguous.
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The authors also did a few correlational analyses. These aren't super rigorous, but they're indicative.
For instance, having a higher Cross-Gender Friending Ratio usually means a country is more accepting of basic feminist ideas, and is likely to have higher female labour force participation.
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For instance, having a higher Cross-Gender Friending Ratio usually means a country is more accepting of basic feminist ideas, and is likely to have higher female labour force participation.
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February 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The authors also did a few correlational analyses. These aren't super rigorous, but they're indicative.
For instance, having a higher Cross-Gender Friending Ratio usually means a country is more accepting of basic feminist ideas, and is likely to have higher female labour force participation.
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For instance, having a higher Cross-Gender Friending Ratio usually means a country is more accepting of basic feminist ideas, and is likely to have higher female labour force participation.
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Looking broadly across the globe, interesting patterns appear.
Rates are lowest in traditionally Muslim areas like the Middle East and north Africa, and highest in Latin America and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Interestingly, Europe and the US are somewhere in the middle - perhaps surprisingly!
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Rates are lowest in traditionally Muslim areas like the Middle East and north Africa, and highest in Latin America and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Interestingly, Europe and the US are somewhere in the middle - perhaps surprisingly!
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February 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Looking broadly across the globe, interesting patterns appear.
Rates are lowest in traditionally Muslim areas like the Middle East and north Africa, and highest in Latin America and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Interestingly, Europe and the US are somewhere in the middle - perhaps surprisingly!
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Rates are lowest in traditionally Muslim areas like the Middle East and north Africa, and highest in Latin America and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Interestingly, Europe and the US are somewhere in the middle - perhaps surprisingly!
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THREAD: What Do Cross-Gender Social Networks Look Like Across the World?
Gender often defines or colours our social networks and interactions. We might be more or less likely to make friends with someone because of their gender.
How does this look on the global scale, and how do we measure it?
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Gender often defines or colours our social networks and interactions. We might be more or less likely to make friends with someone because of their gender.
How does this look on the global scale, and how do we measure it?
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February 17, 2025 at 2:55 PM
THREAD: What Do Cross-Gender Social Networks Look Like Across the World?
Gender often defines or colours our social networks and interactions. We might be more or less likely to make friends with someone because of their gender.
How does this look on the global scale, and how do we measure it?
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Gender often defines or colours our social networks and interactions. We might be more or less likely to make friends with someone because of their gender.
How does this look on the global scale, and how do we measure it?
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of this is mediated by party politics.
It should surprise nobody that Democrats and Independents are more willing to give up income that others may have more money or mobility, and Republicans less (unless they personally benefitted from socioeconomic mobility).
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It should surprise nobody that Democrats and Independents are more willing to give up income that others may have more money or mobility, and Republicans less (unless they personally benefitted from socioeconomic mobility).
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February 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of this is mediated by party politics.
It should surprise nobody that Democrats and Independents are more willing to give up income that others may have more money or mobility, and Republicans less (unless they personally benefitted from socioeconomic mobility).
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It should surprise nobody that Democrats and Independents are more willing to give up income that others may have more money or mobility, and Republicans less (unless they personally benefitted from socioeconomic mobility).
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Their preferences for income mobility are a bit weaker. The average sacrifice to raise income mobility was only around $1,200.
While people are happy to suffer a bit that others should suffer less, it seems they're less willing to risk it all in what they perceive as a zero-sum game.
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While people are happy to suffer a bit that others should suffer less, it seems they're less willing to risk it all in what they perceive as a zero-sum game.
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February 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Their preferences for income mobility are a bit weaker. The average sacrifice to raise income mobility was only around $1,200.
While people are happy to suffer a bit that others should suffer less, it seems they're less willing to risk it all in what they perceive as a zero-sum game.
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While people are happy to suffer a bit that others should suffer less, it seems they're less willing to risk it all in what they perceive as a zero-sum game.
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It turns out, most US adults would be willing to sacrifice about $2,750 from the average US income in order to raise the income of the bottom 10%. This seems to hold even when you specify you're talking about middle income people - that is, the people from whom the money would be coming!
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February 14, 2025 at 1:51 PM
It turns out, most US adults would be willing to sacrifice about $2,750 from the average US income in order to raise the income of the bottom 10%. This seems to hold even when you specify you're talking about middle income people - that is, the people from whom the money would be coming!
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THREAD: How Much Do We Really Want Equality?
Most people are, in principle, in favour of equality. Generally, we like the idea that people at the very least have the same opportunities - and sometimes that people's outcomes aren't too extremely different.
But how far does this principle go?
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Most people are, in principle, in favour of equality. Generally, we like the idea that people at the very least have the same opportunities - and sometimes that people's outcomes aren't too extremely different.
But how far does this principle go?
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February 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
THREAD: How Much Do We Really Want Equality?
Most people are, in principle, in favour of equality. Generally, we like the idea that people at the very least have the same opportunities - and sometimes that people's outcomes aren't too extremely different.
But how far does this principle go?
1/
Most people are, in principle, in favour of equality. Generally, we like the idea that people at the very least have the same opportunities - and sometimes that people's outcomes aren't too extremely different.
But how far does this principle go?
1/
Centralization decreased over time. It was highest in the Early Classic (ca. 250-550), and least in the period 751-771 - though it seems to have gone up again in the Terminal Classic (ca. 830-950).
The greatest decrease, from 751 onwards, was likely due to the destructive Petexbatun wars.
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The greatest decrease, from 751 onwards, was likely due to the destructive Petexbatun wars.
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February 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Centralization decreased over time. It was highest in the Early Classic (ca. 250-550), and least in the period 751-771 - though it seems to have gone up again in the Terminal Classic (ca. 830-950).
The greatest decrease, from 751 onwards, was likely due to the destructive Petexbatun wars.
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The greatest decrease, from 751 onwards, was likely due to the destructive Petexbatun wars.
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While politics was pretty divided, it's worth saying that marriages were more centralized.
It seems that only a few families ruled most of the major centres of the Classic period, even if they then went to war with each other and forged new alliances with smaller states and lesser families.
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It seems that only a few families ruled most of the major centres of the Classic period, even if they then went to war with each other and forged new alliances with smaller states and lesser families.
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February 10, 2025 at 4:33 PM
While politics was pretty divided, it's worth saying that marriages were more centralized.
It seems that only a few families ruled most of the major centres of the Classic period, even if they then went to war with each other and forged new alliances with smaller states and lesser families.
6/
It seems that only a few families ruled most of the major centres of the Classic period, even if they then went to war with each other and forged new alliances with smaller states and lesser families.
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Against what some archaeologists thought, but in line with others' views, they find that Maya politics was quite decentralized in the Classic period.
There were many major centres of power and politics which directed wars and marriages, not just the two some people thought (Tikal and Calakmul).
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There were many major centres of power and politics which directed wars and marriages, not just the two some people thought (Tikal and Calakmul).
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February 10, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Against what some archaeologists thought, but in line with others' views, they find that Maya politics was quite decentralized in the Classic period.
There were many major centres of power and politics which directed wars and marriages, not just the two some people thought (Tikal and Calakmul).
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There were many major centres of power and politics which directed wars and marriages, not just the two some people thought (Tikal and Calakmul).
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Munson and Macri used a dataset of hieroglyphic texts from Classic (ca. 250-950) Maya sites in Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras. These texts are pretty well-preserved and numerous, and they contain information about wars, marriages, alliances, and so on. They let us see connexions between places.
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February 10, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Munson and Macri used a dataset of hieroglyphic texts from Classic (ca. 250-950) Maya sites in Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras. These texts are pretty well-preserved and numerous, and they contain information about wars, marriages, alliances, and so on. They let us see connexions between places.
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So what's Social Network Analysis?
It's a of combination of two fields of mathematics - graph theory and statistics - intended to help us understand networks between people, places, and things a bit better. In essence, it's seeing how individuals in groups connect to each other - or don't.
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It's a of combination of two fields of mathematics - graph theory and statistics - intended to help us understand networks between people, places, and things a bit better. In essence, it's seeing how individuals in groups connect to each other - or don't.
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February 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
So what's Social Network Analysis?
It's a of combination of two fields of mathematics - graph theory and statistics - intended to help us understand networks between people, places, and things a bit better. In essence, it's seeing how individuals in groups connect to each other - or don't.
3/
It's a of combination of two fields of mathematics - graph theory and statistics - intended to help us understand networks between people, places, and things a bit better. In essence, it's seeing how individuals in groups connect to each other - or don't.
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THREAD: How Did Classic Maya Political Networks Work?
The Classic Maya period captures the imagination. Jungle temples, jaguar gods, and jewelled masks jump into the mind's eye.
Yet it's important not to exoticize these people, or forget how they lived. What was Classic Maya politics like?
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The Classic Maya period captures the imagination. Jungle temples, jaguar gods, and jewelled masks jump into the mind's eye.
Yet it's important not to exoticize these people, or forget how they lived. What was Classic Maya politics like?
1/
February 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
THREAD: How Did Classic Maya Political Networks Work?
The Classic Maya period captures the imagination. Jungle temples, jaguar gods, and jewelled masks jump into the mind's eye.
Yet it's important not to exoticize these people, or forget how they lived. What was Classic Maya politics like?
1/
The Classic Maya period captures the imagination. Jungle temples, jaguar gods, and jewelled masks jump into the mind's eye.
Yet it's important not to exoticize these people, or forget how they lived. What was Classic Maya politics like?
1/
It's worth saying that these results are a bit shaky. As stated above, the authors use very simple statistical techniques in their analysis. Better analysis or richer data might help, but the correlations we see here might just be wrong. In other words - take this with a pinch of salt!
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February 8, 2025 at 10:56 PM
It's worth saying that these results are a bit shaky. As stated above, the authors use very simple statistical techniques in their analysis. Better analysis or richer data might help, but the correlations we see here might just be wrong. In other words - take this with a pinch of salt!
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Perhaps even more horribly, it seems that conditions of life got worse too.
Average lifespans among enslaved people seem to have decreased in the 1790s, and many new arrivals did not survive long enough to have children. This resulted in an increase in the creole proportion of the population.
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Average lifespans among enslaved people seem to have decreased in the 1790s, and many new arrivals did not survive long enough to have children. This resulted in an increase in the creole proportion of the population.
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February 8, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Perhaps even more horribly, it seems that conditions of life got worse too.
Average lifespans among enslaved people seem to have decreased in the 1790s, and many new arrivals did not survive long enough to have children. This resulted in an increase in the creole proportion of the population.
6/
Average lifespans among enslaved people seem to have decreased in the 1790s, and many new arrivals did not survive long enough to have children. This resulted in an increase in the creole proportion of the population.
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The announcement in 1792 that abolition was coming in 1803 caused demand for enslaved people to spike - and by a lot.
In fact, around 40% of St Croix's enslaved population 1750-1807 arrived in the 1790s! Because owning people wasn't going to be banned, slavers just stocked up.
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In fact, around 40% of St Croix's enslaved population 1750-1807 arrived in the 1790s! Because owning people wasn't going to be banned, slavers just stocked up.
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February 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
The announcement in 1792 that abolition was coming in 1803 caused demand for enslaved people to spike - and by a lot.
In fact, around 40% of St Croix's enslaved population 1750-1807 arrived in the 1790s! Because owning people wasn't going to be banned, slavers just stocked up.
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In fact, around 40% of St Croix's enslaved population 1750-1807 arrived in the 1790s! Because owning people wasn't going to be banned, slavers just stocked up.
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THREAD: The "Paradox of Abolition" in the Danish West Indies
On 1 January 1803, the slave trade was ended in the realms of the King of Denmark. The abolition had been announced just over a decade earlier in 1792.
How did life change for enslaved people in the decade between those dates?
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On 1 January 1803, the slave trade was ended in the realms of the King of Denmark. The abolition had been announced just over a decade earlier in 1792.
How did life change for enslaved people in the decade between those dates?
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February 8, 2025 at 10:52 PM
THREAD: The "Paradox of Abolition" in the Danish West Indies
On 1 January 1803, the slave trade was ended in the realms of the King of Denmark. The abolition had been announced just over a decade earlier in 1792.
How did life change for enslaved people in the decade between those dates?
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On 1 January 1803, the slave trade was ended in the realms of the King of Denmark. The abolition had been announced just over a decade earlier in 1792.
How did life change for enslaved people in the decade between those dates?
1/
Perhaps most interestingly, most of this was not due to productivity improvements or technology. After all, the industrial revolution's major technologies hadn't been invented in 1620. Rather, it was an "industrious revolution": people started working more and harder to earn more and buy more.
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February 3, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Perhaps most interestingly, most of this was not due to productivity improvements or technology. After all, the industrial revolution's major technologies hadn't been invented in 1620. Rather, it was an "industrious revolution": people started working more and harder to earn more and buy more.
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