Tuesday 04 June 2024 11:00 - 12:00

SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH

About this event

We use quasi-random local variations in the number of young men who died as a result of World War I in France to assess the relationship between demographics, education, and innovation. Our analysis explores two distinct mechanisms: firstly, mortality directly undermines human capital due to the loss of potential inventors. Secondly, the war led to a significant reduction in labor supply, which increased labor costs and incentivized the substitution of missing workers with machinery in particular in the agricultural sector. We provide evidence supporting these mechanisms. Specifically, we document that the latter effect predominates only when the initial level of human capital is sufficiently high.

Participants are expected to adhere to the Events Code of Conduct.

This event will take place in SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH.