ROCKING OUR PRIORS

Status: Why Is it Everywhere? Professor Celia Ridgeway

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What determines status? Why do status hierarchies persist? What happens if people push for higher status before they’re seen as competent? Why are w...

Are Women Less Competitive? Professor Alessandra Cassar

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are women less competitive? Are they less likely to compete for prestige? Why might this be? Under what circumstances are men and women equally compet...

"Rule Makers, Rule Breakers" by Michele Gelfand (Review)

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"Rule Makers, Rule Breakers" by Michele Gelfand (Review) by Dr Alice Evans

Is Joblessness Fuelling Hostile Sexism Worldwide

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Economic development promotes gender equality. But why? Does industrialisation enable women to liberate themselves from patriarchal control? Or is pro...

Why does Rwanda have a Strong State while CAR is war-torn? Professor Louisa Lombard

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why has Rwanda got a strong state while CAR is war-torn? What are the historical roots of civil war in CAR? Islamic raiding, colonialism or multi-pa...

What Are The Evolutionary Origins Of Homophobia?

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Male coalitions tend to denigrate and exclude effeminate men, because they perceive them as physically weak liabilities - argue Bo Winegard, Tania Re...

Why Are Most Comedians Men?

22 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is it just sexist disregard of hilarious women? But why is it usually boys who play the 'joker' in class and why does everyone seem to laugh more read...

Why Are Most Humans Religious? Professor Robin Dunbar

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why are most humans religious? How much can be explained by evolutionary psychology? Why do we cooperate? Is it religious injunctions or more emotiona...

Did Alpha Male Alliances Institutionalise Patriarchy over 300,000 years ago?

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the past 48 hours, my brain has been on fire, transfixed by a ground-breaking new theory. Professor Richard Wrangham argues that councils of elder...

Fertility, Parenting & Women’s Rights: Professor Matthias Doepke

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What drives shifts in fertility, parenting styles & women's rights? What explains global heterogeneity and change over time? Culture or economics? ...

Mothers, friends, and male violence: Dr Anukriti

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do women perpetuate patriarchy? Can vouchers boost female friendships? With what effect? Why does female leadership increase male violence? Join ...

Is Paid Work Always Empowering?

13 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Some economists assume that paid work enhances women’s bargaining power, such that when women earn their own money they push for greater gender equa...

What Did Acemoglu Get Wrong?

28 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What (if anything) did Acemoglu get wrong? At low levels of development, is democracy really good for growth? Have you changed your mind about religi...

What Don't We Know About Patriarchy?

17 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Are you scrambling for research ideas? In this podcast, I outline some important questions, which existing research cannot answer: Do joint families...

Does it Really Matter if Female Labor Force Participation is Miscounted?

17 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Women’s unpaid work is rarely recorded. “Female labor force participation” can thus be radically underestimated. Does that matter?

3 Things I Got Wrong About Patriarchy

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I want to make a confession. In the past I have got things wrong, seriously wrong. Allow me to share why I was so mistaken and how I came to revise my...

Did transatlantic slavery and colonial borders wreck West African women’s movements?

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Africa’s parliaments are increasingly gender equal, thanks largely to quotas. But there is a curious heterogeneity. Southern and Eastern African leg...

Ten Thousand Years of Patriarchy, updated!

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our world is marked by the Great Gender Divergence. In South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, most women remain secluded. Chinese women work bu...

An Intellectual History of the Patriarchy

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The vast majority of innovations, companies, and governments are under male authority. Why is this? What led to it? In this piece I crudely synthesise...

Female Monarchs and Merchant Queens in Africa: Professor Achebe

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

African societies have historically respected women’s authority, spiritual power, physical strength, and moral judgement. Their cosmology upholds ge...

"Career & Family": Professor Claudia Goldin

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Claudia Goldin joins me to discuss "Career & Family: Women's Century-Long Journey Toward Equity". Why do men dominate top jobs? Is this due...

Ten Thousand Years Of Patriarchy

09 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This podcast offers some preliminary explorations of The Neolithic Revolution Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages Pre-Colonial Matrilineal and B...

Smash the Fraternity

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Male bosses and male-dominated workplaces consistently fail to recognise and elevate female talent. Rewards and promotions go to those who put in long...

Did Communism Smash the Patriarchy?

02 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Wherever they ruled, communists engineered cultural change by dethroning religious authorities, educating women, and harnessing them as workhorses. To...

What's Spain's Feminist Secret?

06 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Female employment and political representation have skyrocketed in Iberia. Pioneering the world's first majority-female cabinet, Spain is now the 14th...

Is xenophobia fuelling female empowerment in the Gulf?

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Middle East is renowned for female seclusion, cousin marriage, and discriminatory family laws. Gulf countries are especially conservative, but hav...

How did East Asia overtake South Asia in gender equality?

10 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Circa 1900, women in East Asia and South Asia were equally oppressed and unfree. But over the course of the 20th century, gender equality in East Asia...

Will the BJP save Muslim women?

31 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Indian Muslims have always been free to apply their own personal laws - concerning marriage, divorce and inheritance. Congress upheld legal pluralism,...

Did Irrigation Entrench the Patriarchy?

04 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In a fascinating new paper, Per Fredriksson and Satyendra Gupta find that areas with low irrigation potential have higher female labour force particip...

Why Do Gender Inequalities Persist? The Importance of Beliefs!

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gender inequalities can persist alongside economic development. This is partly due to gender beliefs. Seldom seeing egalitarian alternatives or succ...

What Thwarts Feminist Activism in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia?

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Across the world, women have agitated for greater rights, freedoms, and protections, but with differing degrees of success. In some countries, feminis...

Why is Feminist Activism Thriving in Latin America?

30 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Argentina has just legalised abortion - thanks to relentless feminist activism. Latin America can now boast rapid social change: with rising female ...

Why are North & South India so Different on Gender?

07 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone knows that Southern and Northern India are very different in culture, language, and socio-economic development. But the most dramatic regiona...

"The WEIRDest People in The World": Professor Joe Henrich

04 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Joe Henrich (Harvard) presents his new book on 'how Westerners became psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous'. He suggests th...

How Cities Erode Gender Inequalities

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Support for gender equality has increased across the world, especially in cities. Why is this? And what does it tell us about the drivers of social ch...

Video: "The Decline and Rise of Democracy"

27 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Here's the video of my interview with Professor Stasavage: https://youtu.be/T9VCP6ENJ6w We discuss his new book, "The Decline & Rise of Democracy".

"The Decline and Rise of Democracy": Professor David Stasavage

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Crops, technology, & exit options influenced whether societies became democratic or authoritarian - argues Professor David Stasavage. Rulers wanted t...

Video - The Rise & Fall of the Male Breadwinner

23 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I've made a special episode of Rocking Our Priors. It's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgnluTjB-YE Enjoy! So, which do you prefer? Audio or...

The Rise & Fall of the Male Breadwinner

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today I discuss 3 fantastic new books on work, families, and social change - C19-21. 'Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving...

"China's Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom & Vast Corruption". Professor Yuen Yuen Ang

13 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Why has China grown so fast for so long despite vast corruption? In China's Gilded Age, Professor Ang argues that not all types of corruption hurt g...

"Bread Winner: An Intimate History of the Victorian Economy". Professor Emma Griffin

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nineteenth century Britain saw remarkable economic growth and a rise in real wages. But not everyone shared in the nation’s wealth. Unable to earn a...

Citizenship & Clientelism across India's Rural-Urban Divide: Dr Gabi Kruks-Wisner

04 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Poor slum-dwellers are FOUR times less likely to believe that they will get a response when directly approaching an official than poor rural villager....

How Cities Erode Gender Inequality: Dr Alice Evans

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I read aloud my latest paper, "How Cities Erode Gender Inequality", published in Gender & Society: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891243219...

Labor, Global Supply Chains, and the Garment Industry in South Asia: Professor Sanchita Saxena

22 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sanchita Saxena shares insights on her new book on "Labor, Global Supply Chains, and the Garment Industry in South Asia". Key questions: - ...

"Evidence for Hope": Professor Kathryn Sikkink

01 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Kathryn Sikkink (at the Harvard Kennedy School) argues that human rights laws, institutions, and movements are both legitimate and effective...

"The Narrow Corridor": Professor Daron Acemoglu

30 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Daron Acemoglu discusses his new book, arguing that liberty and prosperity require strong states and strong societies. Alice asks where do...

"Capitalism, Alone": Professor Branko Milanovic

24 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Branko Milanovic, world-leading expert on income inequality, discusses his fascinating new book. We discuss: - Was communism necessary for ...

"Claiming the State": Dr Gabi Kruks-Wisner

05 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Poor rural Indians come to expect and demand more of the state if they observe other people like them successfully mobilising for better services and ...

"Fish or Steel?": Dr Quynh Nguyen & Professor Eddy Malesky

01 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Do people in developing countries prioritise the economy or the environment? To find out, Dr Quynh Nguyen & Dr Eddy Malesky undertook a nationally r...

Norms, state capacity, & elections: Dr Ken Opalo & Dr Dan Honig

01 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's a coup! Ken Opalo and Dan Honig - Assistant Professors of International Development - have seized my podcast! They discuss brilliant new work ...

"Bayesian Process-Tracing!": Dr Tasha Fairfield

31 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

"You need to mentally inhabit the world of each hypothesis. Then, you need to ask whether new evidence makes the hypothesis more or less likely". In ...

"Trading Barriers": Dr Maggie Peters

29 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why have wealthy countries increasingly opened their borders to international trade, but not immigrants? Dr Maggie Peters (Associate Professor at UCL...

Do Women Politicians Inspire Others? Dr Sarah Liu

06 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Do women politicians inspire others? Does women's representation in politics lead to higher female political engagement? Well, it depends on the con...

Feminist Protest and Women’s Economic Empowerment Worldwide: Professor Laurel Weldon

06 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Laurel Weldon is a world-leading expert on how women's organising advances gender equality. In this podcast she discusses how she and collea...

Consciousness Raising: Professor Elisabeth Jay Friedman

06 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What was 'consciousness raising', and how did it contribute to contemporary feminism? Is it still useful? Professor Elisabeth Jay Friedman discusses ...

"Public & Private Power in Economics": Dr Suresh Naidu

01 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What is monopsony power? How can we measure it? Why does it matter? And how does democracy affect growth? To learn more about public and private powe...

"The New Empirics of Industrial Policy": Dr Nathan Lane

04 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Does industrial policy work? And how can we know? Talking causal identification and spilling the tea with Dr Nathan Lane, Assistant Professor at the ...

"Manufacturing Revolutions": Dr Nathan Lane

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Can industrial policy promote structural transformation in developing countries? If so, how? Dr Nathan Lane (Assistant Professor of Economics at Mona...

Local Accountability Improves Peace-building: Dr Susanna Campbell

11 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How can peace-building become more effective? Performance improves if organisations learn from local actors, & strengthen local accountability - find...

"Why Not Default? The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt": Dr Jerome Roos

08 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why do countries rarely default on sovereign debts? In this episode, Dr Jerome Roos (LSE) discusses the domestic and international political economy ...

"Revolution & Reaction": Professor Kurt Weyland

20 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why did South American countries become more authoritarian in the 1960s and 70s? Professor Kurt Weyland explains macro-level political change by draw...

Can Buyers Reward Compliance? Dr. Matt Amengual

12 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Do global buyers reward labour compliance in their supply chains? If not, why not. Join me as I discuss a new paper by Matt Amengual and Greg Distelho...

'Legislative Development in Africa': Dr Ken Opalo

27 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why are some (but not other) African countries democratising? Why have we overlooked legislatures in African politics? How can they be strengthened? W...

"Behavioural Development Economics": Dr Gautam Rao

14 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What is behavioural development economics? How does it help us resolve key puzzles, and tackle urgent problems? My guest is Dr Gautam Rao, Assistant ...

"Unruly Waters": Professor Sunil Amrith

14 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sunil Amrith (at Harvard) shares insights from his fascinating new book: "Unruly Waters". Together we discuss: Is geography destiny? How im...

How Can Aid Agencies Foster "Navigation By Judgment?" - Dr Dan Honig

04 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In "Navigation by Judgment", Dr Dan Honig demonstrates that greater autonomy for front-line staff improves performance in aid agencies. In this podca...

Why is state capacity so uneven? Professor Anthony Pereira

26 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Why is the Brazilian state able to collect taxes & provide services, but fails to enforce law & order, or abate homicides? What explains high state ca...

Does agricultural certification (like Fairtrade) reduce poverty? Dr Carlos Oya

17 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

I buy Fairtrade bananas, assuming farmers are getting a better deal. But a new systematic review finds that agricultural certification only results ...

Why did Asian authoritarians democratise? Professor Joseph Wong

12 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Joseph Wong argues that Asian authoritarian regimes conceded multi-party elections, in order to thrive, presuming they would win. Curious? ...

"Rules without Rights": Professor Tim Bartley

05 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Corporate codes of conduct have become the only game in town. The global economy is governed through private regulation. Companies contract auditors t...

Tackling Tax Evasion: Professor Dina Pomeranz

03 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How can governments tackle tax evasion? To explore this question, Professor Dina Pomeranz examined two Randomized Control Trials in Chile, and a natu...

Governance & trade unions in Bangladesh: Dr. Jennifer Bair

07 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What is motivating the Government of Bangladesh to recognise, register, & respect trade unions? And change the labour law, so all workers can organise...

"Navigation by Judgment": Dr. Dan Honig

09 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Which improves aid effectiveness: setting targets and monitoring delivery, or enhancing autonomy for frontline workers? Dr. Dan Honig explores this q...

How can we prevent another Rana Plaza? Professor Juliane Reinecke

28 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Over a thousand people died at the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. That was five years ago, this April. To learn what caused it, what's hap...

"How To Rig An Election": Professor Nic Cheeseman

26 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Authoritarian leaders who hold elections actually stay in power longer than those who don't. Democracy thus facilitates dictatorships, in a sense. Wh...

Does Violence Increase Risk Aversion? Drs. Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier

27 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Does violence increase risk aversion? Drs. Pamela Jakiela and Owen Ozier did a natural experiment by mistake. Their survey was interrupted by the Ken...

The World Development Report 2018 on Education: Dr. David Evans

21 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How can we ensure everyone gets a decent education? Dr. David Evans (World Bank Lead Economist) discusses the World Development Report 2018. Key poi...

Using RCTs to improve health care: Dr. David Evans

21 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How can we improve health care management? Provide more training, or more supportive supervision? To ascertain what works, Dr. David Evans (Lead Eco...

How do we know what works? Professor Michael Woolcock

17 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How can we assess the impact and scalability of complex interventions? Why use mixed methods? How can we tackle hubris among economists at the World B...

"Institutions And Democracy In Africa": Professor Nic Cheeseman

26 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Although widely overlooked, formal rules have significantly impacted democratisation in African politics. So, to understand democratisation, we need ...

"The Struggle for Development": Professor Ben Selwyn

20 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Poverty is falling. It's falling due to global economic integration, and growth - or so claims the international development consensus. But is this ...

Tackling Son Preference in India: Dr. Sanchari Roy

14 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

What might reduce son preference in India? Could equal inheritance rights help? Actually no. Despite legislative change, parents continue to favo...

Gender Revolution & Millennials: Professor Barbara Risman

11 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Join us to discuss Professor Risman's fascinating new book: - Are millennials more liberal? - How are they challenging gender inequalities? - Why do ...

"Aid Lab: Understanding Bangladesh's Unexpected Success": Dr Naomi Hossain

16 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How has Bangladesh rapidly reduced poverty? Is it due to microfinance, NGOs, growth, or an elite consensus? The brilliant Dr. Hossain explains the hi...

"Geopolitics in Health": Dr. Ed Gomez

14 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why do governments prioritise & invest in health care? Is social activism key? Not in the BRICS. These governments primarily improved health care t...

"Ethnicity, national identity and the state": Dr. Elliott Green

14 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From the USA to Uganda, strong ethnic identities can fuel hostilities; deter contributions to public goods; thwart class-based solidarity; curb econom...

Brexit and British Politics: Professor Anand Menon

05 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why did people vote for Brexit? Why didn't attitudes towards the EU change much over the campaign? How can academics engage more effectively? How c...

Does Microfinance Work? Dr. Rachael Meager

14 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Does microfinance work? How can we investigate its impact? What about pooling Randomised Control Trials? Dr. Rachael Meager (Assistant Professor at t...

"Building State Capability": Dr. Matt Andrews

13 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How to improve state capability - such that low- and middle-income country governments can effectively tackle local problems? Instead of 'best practi...

"How China Escaped the Poverty Trap": Dr. Yuen Yuen Ang

09 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How did China escape the poverty trap? And what can other emerging economies learn from China's success of 'directed improvisation'? Dr. Ang discuss...

'Politicising Inequality, The Power of Ideas': Dr Evans

29 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is inequality inevitable? Why has inequality fallen in Latin America? Is this due to democratisation? How should we study inequality?

'Where Are The Unions?': Dr Sian Lazar

10 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Given globalisation and precarity, are unions dead? What can they achieve? What enables unions to be more effective? How can they be better supported?...

'Neoliberal Affects': Professor Ben Anderson

01 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What are 'affects' and emotional 'atmospheres'? Why are Geographers so enraptured by them? How do they help us understand neoliberalism? Might affects...

'Captain America and the Nationalist Superhero': Professor Jason Dittmer

27 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Are there parallels between support for Trump and desire for a superhero? Professor Jason Dittmer thinks so... I'm sceptical, however. Floating abov...

'The ICC's African Dilemmas': Dr. Adam Branch

27 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Four Questions for Dr Adam Branch (expert in African politics and the International Criminal Court, ICC): 1. Does the ICC do any good? 2. Why has t...

'Understanding Zimbabwe': Dr. Sara Dorman

20 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Four Questions for Dr. Sara Dorman: Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost the 2008 election. So why does he still retain power? Why have opposition politics and civ...

'Citizens in the middle class': Dr Charlotte Lemanski

20 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What's driving the housing crisis for South African middle income households? Why aren't these middling households mobilising for housing reform? Y...

'The Killing Consensus': Dr Graham Denyer Willis

19 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Why did the homicide rate fall in Sao Paulo? How and why has organised crime reduced homicides? Why has this happened in Brazil, but not the USA? A...