The cultural legacy of historical ethnic violence: The impact on access to finance and innovation

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• Jianan Lu, University of Portsmouth
• Wednesday 12 March 2025, 13:15-14:45
• Room 12, Faculty of History, and on Teams.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Aleksandra Dul.

Using the case of the pogroms that took place in the historical region of the ‘Pale of Settlement’ in Eastern Europe, this paper analyzes the cultural legacy of ethnic violence and its long-term economic impact on access to finance and on corporate innovation. We find that firms in regions with a higher historical intensity of ethnic persecution face greater financial constraints, relying more on internal finance and experiencing reduced access to external finance. These financial limitations are linked to sluggish innovation activities among present-day firms. We propose that a mechanism of financial antipathy, rooted in a persistent anti-market culture fostered by historical ethnic animosity, explains these effects and reflects a long-term degradation of local social capital. Our results are supported by causal evidence using instrumental variables based on the precursors of historical inter-ethnic violence. The animosity and discrimination against the minority group appear to transfer to the broader economic activities in which that group was involved, creating lasting economic consequences for the majority population – consequences that continue to affect financial development and innovation to the present day.

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Meeting ID: 331 423 030 137 Passcode: xv2n3Aj6

This talk is part of the Quantitative History Seminar series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• AUB_Cambridge Seminars
• Department of Geography
• Economic and Social History Seminars
• Quantitative History Seminar
• Room 12, Faculty of History, and on Teams
• history

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