Cheng, Wenhao;
(2024)
Essays in Development and Social Economics.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This dissertation investigates the causes, evolution, and influence of social structures and norms within the domain of development economics. Chapter 1 investigates the role of patrilineal kinship as a representative pre-modern social structure in facilitating male marriages in 19th-century China amid development spurred by a forced port opening. Males with higher centrality among other unmarried male relatives in their patrilineal family tree have an increased likelihood of securing a spouse after the port opening. A model of altruism within networks, supported by corresponding evidence, is developed to suggest that a larger surplus from development incentivizes unmarried males to uphold their connections with their kin groups, thereby enhancing their relevance in resource allocation. Chapter 2 develop a model to discuss how social learning, specifically Naïve learning, helps coordinate product adoption in development programs. Individuals receive initial signals regarding the value of the product, communicate afterwards and make adoption decisions based on that. The model suggests that as beliefs converge, the result will converge to a unique cutoff equilibrium, as in a global game. It also shows that more adoption is expected with high inequality in network positions if the value of the product to be adopted is low and vice versa. Chapter 3 investigates the historical origins of son preference and gender bias in China, examining the influence of rice and wheat production on parents' choice of offspring's sex ratio. It shows that provinces/prefectures with larger gaps in rice and wheat suitability exhibit higher male-to-female sex ratios at birth. Furthermore, individuals from regions with larger gaps in suitability tend to have more unequal gender norms.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Essays in Development and Social Economics |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Economics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10193092 |
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