The Long-Term Impact of Technological Shocks and State Repression on Gender Equality and Civil Society in China

This podcast episode delves into the complex drivers of gender inequality, arguing that it stems from both pure discrimination and initial productivity differences between men and women. The speaker, an economic historian specializing in China, highlights the inadequacy of traditional economic growth explanations, emphasizing the crucial role of culture and institutions—specifically values, beliefs, and customs—in shaping economic decisions and outcomes. This approach, termed cultural economics, leverages economic history's tools and archives to rigorously examine the origins, impact, and evolution of these cultural factors, acknowledging the methodological challenges in measuring such abstract concepts.

The core of the discussion revolves around two major historical studies in China. The first examines the "Cotton Revolution" around 1300, a technological shock that uniquely benefited women by increasing their income and, consequently, their bargaining power in marriage markets. This economic shift led to long-term changes, including increased female labor force participation across various sectors and, crucially, a transformation in societal beliefs towards more egalitarian views of women's competence, even persisting through the state socialism era. The second study investigates the "Literary Inquisition" during the Qing period (1600-1800), a state-imposed control over speech and intellectual discourse designed to solidify Manchu power. This repression fostered a persistent distrust of strangers and a reduced capacity for collective action, manifesting in a decreased ability to organize local charities, provide public goods like schooling, and participate in local politics, with effects observable even in modern times.

The practical insights from this research underscore the profound and enduring influence of historical events and institutional frameworks on contemporary social and economic structures. Economic history, as a discipline, is presented as a powerful tool for addressing fundamental questions in labor and development economics, such as the roots of gender inequality or the effects of cash transfers to women. The studies demonstrate how specific historical shocks can reshape not only economic realities but also deeply ingrained cultural beliefs, offering valuable lessons for understanding current development challenges and policy interventions.

Broader implications extend to the dynamics between the state and civil society, illustrating how state predation can weaken civil society, leading to the entrenchment of autocracy. The long-term effects of the Literary Inquisition serve as a historical parallel to modern discussions about state control and authoritarianism, suggesting that seemingly ancient events can provide critical insights into contemporary political phenomena. The research highlights the interconnectedness of economic, social, and political spheres, emphasizing that cultural and institutional legacies can shape a society's capacity for cooperation, self-organization, and political engagement for centuries.

"what drives gender inequality is that just pure discrimination or it also has some roots in the productivity differences and what I find is that you actually have both right so there's discrimination it definitely has grown and in those later outcomes when when there is no more productivity differences between men and women but the origin of this discrimination does also go back to the initial productivity differences"

"in our current explanations for economic growth is rather inadequate so even after taking the account of all those factors around Capital labor human capital there's still a lot is left and explained"

"when economists think about culture we look at the most recent 10 years of literature it's mostly about you know values beliefs and Customs I think I would say the values and beliefs are even more important because those are things that shapes how you think and then how you make decisions"

"the cotton Revolution makes it more likely that the men will be paying no men's family I won't be paying a bright price to the to the woman's family which is also consistent and broadly speaking with with this view that in the cartoon Revolution by increasing women's income then also increase their bargaining power in the marriage markets"

"the colon revolution has managed to transform the beliefs about women and how competent or able they are relative to man so the areas with the carbon Revolution are more likely to hold this more egalitarian view towards women and more likely to think they're just as capable as their male counterparts"

"economic history is is showing like so much promise and able to answer like important questions and in both labor economics and development economics in a sense that it answers this like age-old question about and like what what drives the gender inequality"

"in places where they witnessed this literary Inquisition which is literally just having speech crimes and having illicit speech and being punished they are much much less likely to be able to organize the local charities and later on I also look at their ability to provide local public goods"

"as the state and predate on the Civil Society and the Civil Society gets weakened then that is how eventually the autocracy becomes more entrenched"

"I've often find those ancient seemingly ancient removed events is continuing to be a very and providing useful insights and history Powers thinking of the more recent events"