Table of Contents
Abstract
God and government are fundamental sources of order in human societies, yet people differ across societies in where they place their faith between the two. We argue that these enduring differences can be partly traced to the types of climate risk faced by ancestral communities. When people confronted incompensable risk such as temperature fluctuations, they turned to religion for psychological solace. In contrast, compensable risk like rainfall instability could be managed through irrigation and other collective endeavors and fostered lasting confidence in public institutions. We test this hypothesis using multiple sources of data and find robust patterns both across countries and across ethnic groups within countries. We also place our hypothesis in dialogue with existing research by examining how it relates to alternative accounts of the historical origins of culture and institutions.
About the Speaker
Professor Bai is the Sein and Isaac Souede Professor in Economic History and a Professor in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong.
Before joining HKU, he taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he served as a Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the CUHK-UCSD Joint Laboratory on Chinese Economy. He earned his Ph.D. from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include development economics, economic history, and the political economy of China. He employs cutting-edge statistical techniques and novel datasets to address historically significant issues in China’s development, such as the causes and consequences of conflict, the impact of the West (particularly Protestantism) on modern economic growth, and the political and economic implications of China’s key institutions—the imperial civil examination system and the hierarchical administrative system.
Much of his research has been published in prestigious journals, including The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Econometrica, The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Economic Journal, International Economic Review, and the Journal of the European Economic Association. His work has been recognized with the 2018 Distinguished CESifo Research Affiliate Award and the 2021 Masahiko Aoki Award. Additionally, in 2018, he received the CUHK Young Researcher Award.
About the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar
This series aims to introduce a wide range of cutting-edge research in various disciplines and areas. If you have any questions about this seminar or would be interested in giving a talk, please contact Professor Chun Fung Tong (tong.chunfung@hku.hk).
