This paper examines whether collaboration within groups in pre-industrial agriculture favored the emergence of collectivist rather than individualist cultures. I document that societies whose ancestors jointly practiced irrigation agriculture historically have stronger collectivist norms today. This finding holds across countries, sub-national districts within countries, and migrants, and is robust to instrumenting the historical adoption of irrigation by its geographic suitability. In addition, I find evidence for a culturally-embodied effect of irrigation agriculture on economic behavior. Descendants of irrigation societies innovate less today, and are more likely to work in routine-intensive occupations, even when they live outside their ancestral homelands. Together, my results suggest that historical differences in the need to act collectively have contributed to the global divergence of culture and technology.

中文翻译：

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日益增长的集体主义：灌溉，群体整合和技术差异

本文研究了前工业化农业中的群体内部合作是否有利于集体主义而非个人主义文化的出现。我记录到，其祖先共同从事灌溉农业的社会在今天具有更强的集体主义规范。这一发现适用于国家，国家内部的次地区和移民，并且通过其地理适宜性对灌溉的历史采用提供了强有力的支持。此外，我发现了灌溉农业对经济行为产生文化影响的证据。当今，灌溉社会的后代创新较少，即使他们生活在祖传祖国之外，他们也更可能从事日常密​​集的工作。一起，