This paper seeks to better understand the historical origins of current differences in norms
and beliefs about the appropriate role of women in society. We test the hypothesis that
traditional agricultural practices influenced the historical gender division of labor and the
evolution and persistence of gender norms. We find that, consistent with existing hypotheses,
the descendants of societies that traditionally practiced plough agriculture, today have lower
rates of female participation in the workplace, in politics, and in entrepreneurial activities, as
well as a greater prevalence of attitudes favoring gender inequality. We identify the causal
impact of traditional plough use by exploiting variation in the historical geo-climatic suitability
of the environment for growing crops that differentially benefited from the adoption of the
plough. Our IV estimates, based on this variation, support the findings from OLS. To isolate
the importance of cultural transmission as a mechanism, we examine female labor force
participation of second-generation immigrants living within the US.