Rice farming, culture and democracy

European Economic Review • Vol/Iss. 136 • Elsevier • Amsterdam • Published In • Pages: 103778 •
By Ang, James B. , Madsen, Jakob B., Wang, Wen

Abstract

The authors propose that societies with a tradition of rice farming are less likely to develop a democracy than societies with a tradition of wheat farming. They base their predictions on the theory that wheat farming, as opposed to rice farming, does not require extensive community collaboration and promotes individualism, which then in turn promotes democracy. Their findings were robustly consistent with their predictions. The authors used multiple controls in their analyses, including religion, economic development, geography, and local democratic practices.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Ethnographic Atlas (EA)OthersLocal democratic practices aggregated to country-level
Polity IV DatabaseOthersAutocracy-democracy index
World Values Survey (WVS)CombinationIndividualism index, attitudes towards democracy
Global Agro-Ecological Zones DatabaseOthersWetland rice to wheat sustainability ratio
Hofstede et al. 2010 SampleOthersIndividualism index

Hypotheses (4)

HypothesisSupported
A legacy of rice farming will be negatively correlated with the tendency of a society to develop democracy.Supported
The degree of individualism within a society will be positively correlated with the tendency for that society to develop democracy.Supported
A legacy of rice farming will be negatively correlated with the degree of individualism in a society.Supported
A legacy of rice farming will be negatively correlated with democratic values.Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: anj.droe