Science's twin taboos

Taboos, agriculture and poverty

Although cultural practices often have important consequences for household consumption and economic performance, they are seldom studied by economists. To fill this gap we study the impact of taboos on agriculture and poverty. Madagascar is a good case study for this purpose given the prevalence of taboos in everyday life and the variation in cultural practices across the country. We examine t...

Taboos, agriculture and poverty

We study the impact of work taboos (fady days) on agriculture and poverty. Using cross-sectional data from a national household survey for Madagascar, we find that 18% of agricultural households have two or more fady days per week and that an extra fady day is associated with 6 percent lower per capita consumption and 5 percent lower rice productivity. To address the possible endogeneity of fad...

The Trouble with Twin Studies: A Reassessment of Twin Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

Cohort Profile: The National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry (NAS-NRC Twin Registry).

The National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry (NAS-NRC Twin Registry) is a comprehensive registry of White male twin pairs born in the USA between 1917 and 1927, both of the twins having served in the military. The purpose was medical research and ultimately improved clinical care. The cohort was assembled in the early 1960s with identification of approximately 16,000...

Food Taboos and Misconceptions Among Pregnant Women

Background: A food considered as a taboo is strictly forbidden, for health, cultural or spiritual reasons. Food taboos are known from virtually all human societies and may be found in various forms all over the world. Pregnancy is viewed as a critical period in the life of women and is usually subjected to a number of food taboos as a way of safeguarding their lives and that of the unborn baby....