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This paper studies the effects of the Green Revolution, one of the largest development projects in the late 20th Century, on individualism. We use a difference-in-differences approach to investigate how rapid technological and organizational changes in traditional agriculture reshaped cultural norms in Indonesia, where Green Revolution rollout was largely driven by centralized government interventions. Regions with greater exposure to Green Revolution policies experienced significant and persistent increases in individualism (as measured by a higher prevalence of infrequent names) decades after the end of the program. Results are not driven by pre-trends and hold across a battery of robustness checks. We further document suggestive, correlational evidence of a persistent fall in community funding for public goods, a key measure of collective action. Our findings suggest that technical change can lead to rapid and persistent changes in culture.

This would be if the government wishes to attract "young, fresh or 'unproven' talent", said Gedeon Lim, a Singaporean economist from the University of Hong Kong. But he added: "If they are looking mainly for established, top 1 percentile innovators, bankers, thought leaders in their respective fields, we already have a scheme in place, so it seems difficult to think of what else the government might be able to do, short of lowering the threshold and increasing the quota for these existing visa schemes."

“Today, development economists like me often spend much of our time in the field, and, increasingly, collaborate with scholars from multiple disciplines, leaders from regional communities, and even local political figures.”

As a development economist, Dr. Gedeon Lim has been dedicated to the study of reducing poverty and facilitating economic growth and development. He joined HKU Business School in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor in Economics. Our young and energetic Singaporean scholar is thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate and generate new knowledge with local scholars.

THERE have been renewed calls for Singapore to completely shut its borders to high-risk countries, as the Republic battles a more infectious wave of Covid-19, but economists say the net costs and benefits may not be that clear-cut.