April, 23 – Regular Seminar

Topic: "I'm Sorry to Report Malcolm Gladwell Was Right: Rice Farming Explains East Asia's Overperformance on Standardized Tests (and Imperial Exams Going Back 700 Years)"
Speaker: Thomas Talhelm, Associate Professor of Behavioral Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Centre for Comparative Research on Social Well-Being announces the next regular seminar, which will be held as a Zoom session on April, 23 at 03:30 p.m. CET (04:30 p.m. Moscow time). Thomas Talhelm, Associate Professor of Behavioral Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will deliver a report "I'm Sorry to Report Malcolm Gladwell Was Right: Rice Farming Explains East Asia's Overperformance on Standardized Tests (and Imperial Exams Going Back 700 Years)".

Abstract. Every few years, a round of international standardized test results come out, and each time East Asian countries dominate the rankings. In America, the talking heads respond. Some call it a sign of American decline and needed education reform. Others complain that China is cherry-picking the schools that participate. In this talk, I'll present evidence that the differences trace back to rice farming. Paddy rice required about twice the labor of other common crops like wheat and corn. Historians have documented traditions in rice-farming cultures that celebrate hard work, such as festivals to get pumped up for periods of hard work. We found that cultures with a history of rice farming scored higher on standardized tests across countries. Differences remained even when we compared students in the same countries (and same education systems) but with parents born in other cultures. One obvious limitation is that much rice farming is in East Asia. So how do we know it's East Asia's rice farming and not some other aspect of East Asian culture, like Confucianism or education systems? One convenient way around this problem is to compare rice and wheat regions in China. To do that, we analyzed a nationally representative survey given to students all over China. Students who were born in rice-farming counties outperformed students from wheat counties. Rice overperformance even extended 700 years back in history in China's imperial exam. Using data from the Ming and Qing dynasties, people in rice areas were more likely to pass the extremely competitive civil service exam. Together, these results highlight culture as an enduring influence on educational performance.

To participate in the seminar, please, fill in the registration form.

Everyone interested is invited!

The working language is English.