In this discussion paper, we explore the concept of "societal innovativeness" as a key driver of transformative regional development, particularly within the context of regions facing structural weaknesses. Our explorative study delves into the multifaceted nature of societal innovativeness,...

Interpersonal relations are shaped by the judgements associated with the social categories that individuals perceive in their social contacts. I develop a model of how those judgments form based on a theory of symbolic values. The model depicts the interaction between two values, one associated...

History shows militarily dominant states that pursue imperialism, relying on their might to extort resources from weaker states. Occasionally, the latter revolt and the dominant state suffers some casualties. This paper explores imperialism along steady-growth paths. If the dominant state...

The transition from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy requires that the Saudi population dramatically increases its level of human capital. This paper argues that noncognitive skills may be a bottleneck in the formation of human capital and proposes a policy to indirectly strengthen...

This paper challanges the view that weak work norms in generous welfare states makes them economically unsustainable. I develop a dynamic model of family-transmitted values that has a laissez-faire equilibrium with strong work norms coexisting with a social-insurance equilibrium with weak work...

We present a model for the dynamics of networks in which edges represent positions in organizations, holders of which are connected to each other when the positions belong to the same organization. Once a vacancy is opened, the new employee can be hired from the current network. In particular,...

We examine whether anti-establishment outsider movements can leverage education and youth mobilization to build long-run political power. We study the expansion of state-run religious secondary schools in 1970s Türkiye and show that access to these schools catalyzed the emergence of Islamist...

This study deals with the impact of the 2015 European Refugee Crisis on the ethnic identity of resident migrants in Germany. To derive plausibly causal estimates, I exploit the quasiexperimental setting in Germany, by which refugees are allocated to different counties by state authorities...

I empirically assess the importance of socially interdependent origin cultures as opposed to socially independent ones for network effects in inter-national migration. I propose that societies that emphasise collectivist behaviour accumulate larger levels of communityspecific social capital than...