The origins of cultural divergence: evidence from Vietnam

Abstract Cultural norms diverge substantially across societies, often within the same country. We propose and investigate a self-domestication/selective migration hypothesis , proposing that cultural differences along individualism–collectivism dimension are driven by out-migration of individualistic people from collectivist core regions states to peripheral frontier areas, such patterns historical reflected even in current distribution norms. Gaining independence 939 CE after about thousand years Chinese colonization, Vietnam emerged region is now north with social organization. From eleventh eighteenth centuries, gradually expanded its territory southward Mekong River Delta through repeated waves conquest migration. Using nationwide household survey, population census, lab-in-the-field experiment, we demonstrate areas annexed earlier currently more prone norms, these embodied individual beliefs. Relying on many accounts, together various robustness checks, argue during eight centuries territorial expansion an important driver, among others, differences.