Understanding cultural persistence and change: A replication of Giuliano and Nunn (2021)

Abstract

AbstractGiuliano and Nunn (2021) provide econometric evidence that ancestral climatic variability reduces the current importance of tradition. We conduct a “deep reproduction”, comparing the precise descriptions of the individual‐level regressions in their article with the corresponding code. This analysis uncovers several major inconsistencies, also related to the code not included in their replication package. A published corrigendum addresses some inconsistencies we had also communicated to the Editor of REStud, but several remain, relating to a substantial portion of the observations. A realignment of the code with the text reveals a more nuanced relationship between ancestral climatic variability and tradition.