We explore how cultural heterogeneity evolves without strong selection pressure or environmental differences between groups. Using a neutral transmission model with an isolation-by-distance spatiality, we test the effect of a simple representation of cultural ‘memory’ on the dynamics of heterogeneity. We find that memory magnifies the effect of affinity while decreasing the effect of individual learning on cultural heterogeneity. This indicates that, while the cost of individual learning governs the frequency of individual learning, memory is important in governing its effect.

The rapid closure of pits during the 1980s in the UK is an example of an economic shock which is not only specific to a particular industry but also to local economic areas. In 1983, only 29 of the 459 local authority areas in the UK was coal mining more than 10% of total employment. Over the 20-year period 1983–2002, average percentage employment growth in these areas was less than the UK as a whole. But the key feature is the huge diversity across areas, with three showing employment falls of nearly 20% and three exhibiting employment gains of more than 30%. Some areas showed great resilience in the face of a serious shock. Two general factors account for over half the variability of this experience. First, the greater the percentage in coal mining in 1983, the lower was 20-year employment growth. Second, the more militant an area was during the miners' strike of 1984/85, the lower also was employment growth.