This paper suggests that ancestral irrigation is linked to lower levels of contemporary female labor force participation. The hypothesis is tested using cross-country data, as well as data from various surveys. The study finds evidence that the gender-based division of labor in pre-modern agriculture may be the mechanism behind this relationship, and that cultural transmission across generations, particularly through males, may play a role in perpetuating this pattern.

The second and third parts of this book classify the economic systems of foraging and agricultural societies in the SCCS based on correlations between their institutions of property an distribution. These economic types are then examined for relationships with other social, political, demographic, and environmental factors in order to draw tentative conclusions regarding the origins of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. The fourth part of the book uses cross-national data to examine similar associations in industrial/service economies, and is not included here.

In this master's thesis, the author seeks to understand the determinants of attitudes on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). She does this by correlating data on socioeconomic status, age, and education against survey data about IPV attitudes from Demographic and Health Surveys that were conducted in 56 countries across the world. Additionally, for purposes of analysis, she also ran correlations between attitudes and ancestral plow use data some the Ethnographic Atlas as a proxy for the presence of patriarchal norms. Finally, and most uniquely, the author conducted relational analyses between couples in order to gauge how IPV attitudes were influenced by the attitudes of a person's partner. The author concludes with suggestions of how this information can be used by policymakers in order to reduced and ultimately eliminate IPV.

This article investigates the sexual division of labor between adults and children. Data analysis suggests that children usually perform tasks appropriate for an adult of the same gender, but boys will often perform women’s tasks while girls generally do not perform men’s tasks. Thus, women tend to benefit more from children’s labor.

The article discusses the role of land ownership in natural resource management and social-ecological resilience, and explores the factors that determine ownership norms in human societies. The study tests long-standing theories from ecology, economics, and anthropology regarding the potential drivers of land ownership, including resource defensibility, subsistence strategies, population pressure, political complexity, and cultural transmission mechanisms. Using cultural and environmental data from 102 societies, the study found an increased probability of land ownership in mountainous environments and societies with higher population densities. The study also found support for the idea that neighboring societies might influence land ownership. However, there was less support for variables associated with subsistence strategies and political complexity.

The present study aims to evaluate correlations of private property from two of Murdock's datasets, one of 147 societies (1981) and the other of 312 societies (1967). Altogether the author tested 146 variables coded by Murdock against variables regarding the ownership of land and of movables drawn from Murdock (1967), Simmons (1937), and Swanson (1960). In total, there were 51 statistically significant correlations between private property ownership and other variables. Additionally, the author summarizes the results from this article and the two that preceded it stating that throughout all of the correlations he ran, the practice of agriculture, the use of cereal grains, and the presence of castes and classes were the only variables that predicted private property in all of the datasets that were utilized.

The authors evaluated an alternative theory to the traditional productivity theory. They posit that food surplus did not precede the emergence of hierarchy, rather, the productivity advantage of cereal cultivation over tubers and roots as the catalyst for state societies. Their theory found support with a sample of societies from the present-day, Classical Antiquity, Neolithic period and pre/post Columbian Exchange. The results suggest social complexity emerged with cereal cultivation, rather than agriculture alone.

Authors Michael Burton and Douglas White present and test an ecological model for the process of agricultural intensification that aims to explain variance in (and the reduction in) female contribution to agriculture. The model synthesizes and expands upon findings put forth by previous studies in order to create a more comprehensive design. Results suggest that the strongest predictors of female contribution to agriculture are the number of dry months, the importance of domesticated animals to subsistence, and the use of the plow in farming. Crop type, although a weaker predictor, is also supported.

This article investigates factors influencing the division of labor by gender, including occupation specialization, the type of material labor involves, the presence of the plow, nomadism, and the advantage that a product may yield to either sex. Hypotheses are widely supported.

In this study, the authors analyze subsistence economies to better understand their variability and success, the role of the environment in different subsistence choices, and the relevance of fishing, specifically in mixed economies. They find regular subsistence patterns, suggesting that not all subsistence combinations are successful. Their findings also indicate that environment influences subsistence choice, mixed economies are common, and that fishing plays a key role in mixed economies.