Competitive preferences and ethnicity: experimental evidence from Bangladesh
Competitive preferences and ethnicity: experimental evidence from Bangladesh
We investigate whether aversion to competing against members of the ethnically dominant group could be a contributing factor to the persistent disadvantageous socioeconomic position of ethnic minorities. We conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment in rural Bangladesh, randomly assigning participants into groups with different ethnic composition. We find that the ethnic minority group (Santal) are less likely to compete in groups where they are a numerical minority than when all competitors are co-ethnic, whereas the reverse is true for the ethnic majority group (Bengali). Further analysis suggests that differences in social power and status underpin these differences in preferences for interethnic competition.
793-821
Siddique, Abu
8d55d956-7044-4e78-9cee-cc6fa539a36c
Vlassopoulos, Michael
2d557227-958c-4855-92a8-b74b398f95c7
April 2020
Siddique, Abu
8d55d956-7044-4e78-9cee-cc6fa539a36c
Vlassopoulos, Michael
2d557227-958c-4855-92a8-b74b398f95c7
Siddique, Abu and Vlassopoulos, Michael
(2020)
Competitive preferences and ethnicity: experimental evidence from Bangladesh.
Economic Journal, 130 (627), .
(doi:10.1093/ej/uez063).
Abstract
We investigate whether aversion to competing against members of the ethnically dominant group could be a contributing factor to the persistent disadvantageous socioeconomic position of ethnic minorities. We conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment in rural Bangladesh, randomly assigning participants into groups with different ethnic composition. We find that the ethnic minority group (Santal) are less likely to compete in groups where they are a numerical minority than when all competitors are co-ethnic, whereas the reverse is true for the ethnic majority group (Bengali). Further analysis suggests that differences in social power and status underpin these differences in preferences for interethnic competition.
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Full Competitiveness Paper
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Accepted/In Press date: 2 June 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 5 November 2019
Published date: April 2020
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 431913
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/431913
ISSN: 0013-0133
PURE UUID: 00d57b66-3c55-48ed-97fc-650fcd7e6481
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Date deposited: 21 Jun 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:57
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Author:
Abu Siddique
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