nep-soc New Economics Papers
on Social Norms and Social Capital
Issue of 2020‒11‒02
twenty-one papers chosen by
Fabio Sabatini
Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”

  1. Ethnic bias, economic success and trust: Findings from large sample experiments in Germany and the United States through the Trustlab platform By Sophie Cetre; Yann Algan; Gianluca Grimalda; Fabrice Murtin; Louis Putterman; Ulrich Schmidt; Vincent Siegerink
  2. Syrian Civil War Victims Trust Each Other, but Punish When and Whomever They Can By El-Bialy, Nora; Fraile Aranda, Elisa; Nicklisch, Andreas; Saleh, Lamis; Voigt, Stefan
  3. Assessing the Impact of Social Network Structure on the Diffusion of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): A Generalized Spatial SEIRD Model By Giorgio Fagiolo
  4. Exposure to the Covid-19 pandemic and generosity By Brañas-Garza, Pablo; Jorrat, Diego; Alfonso-Costillo, Antonio; Espín, Antonio M.; Garcia, Teresa; Kovářík, Jaromír
  5. Cultural Identity and Social Capital in Italy By Sgroi, Daniel; Redoano, Michela; Liberini, Federica; Lockwood, Ben; Bracco, Emanuele; Porcelli, Francesco
  6. To segregate, or to discriminate – that is the question: experiment on identity and social preferences By Blanco, M; Guerra, J. A.
  7. Facing the challenge of globalization: the role of confidence in institutions. By Sarracino, Francesco; Riillo, Cesare Fabio Antonio
  8. The Role of Social Networks in Bank Lending By Oliver Rehbein; Simon Rother
  9. Women Leaders and Social Performance: Evidence from Financial Cooperatives in Senegal By Anaïs Périlleux; Ariane Szafarz
  10. Irrigation and Culture: Gender Roles and Women’s Rights By Fredriksson, Per G.; Gupta, Satyendra Kumar
  11. Religious Attendance and COVID-19. Evidence from Italian Regions By Vincenzo Alfano; Salvatore Ercolano; Gaetano Vecchione
  12. Skilled migration: Bridging the conceptual gap between friendship, social capital, and employability By Potts, Danielle; Martensen, Malte
  13. Social Capital and Corporate Performance: Evidence from State Capital Enterprises in Vietnam By Ngo, Chin; Nguyen, Quyen Le Hoang Thuy To; Nguyen, Phong Thanh
  14. Does Party Competition Affect Political Activism? By Hager, Anselm; Hensel, Lukas; Hermle, Johannes; Roth, Christopher
  15. The Perverse Costly Signaling Effect on Cooperation under the Shadow of the Future By Kamei, Kenju
  16. Love Thy Neighbor? Perceived Community Abidance and Private Compliance to COVID-19 Norms in India By Upasak Das; Prasenjit Sarkhel; Sania Ashraf
  17. Strategic Interdependence in Political Movements and Countermovements By Hager, Anselm; Hensel, Lukas; Hermle, Johannes; Roth, Christopher
  18. Endeavours: The Relationship in Social Network of Thai Student Labourers in Australia By Thanapauge Chamaratana
  19. What Drives Populist Votes? Recent Insights and Open Questions By Thiemo Fetzer; Robert Gold
  20. Dancing with the Populist: New Parties, Electoral Rules and Italian Municipal Elections By Bordignon, Massimo; Colussi, Tommaso
  21. The Effect of Self-Awareness on Dishonesty By Cibik, Ceren Bengu; Sgroi, Daniel

  1. By: Sophie Cetre (Sciences Po, Paris); Yann Algan (Sciences Po, Paris); Gianluca Grimalda (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Fabrice Murtin (OECD); Louis Putterman (Brown university); Ulrich Schmidt (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Vincent Siegerink (OECD)
    Abstract: This paper studies ethnic in-group bias in online trust games played by two large representative samples in the United States and Germany through the Trustlab platform, which was launched by the OECD and several research partners in 2017. The ethnic in-group bias, defined as the propensity to favour members of one’s own ethnic group in terms of monetary payoff, is significant in both countries. In the United States, members of the three largest ethnic groups trust people from their own ethnic group more than those from other groups. African Americans have a larger in-group bias than White Americans and Hispanics. Ethnic differentiation is not selective, as each group tends to have lower trust in the two other ethnic groups but at roughly the same rate. In contrast, ethnic differentiation is strongly selective in Germany: subjects of German parentage discriminate twice as much against Turkish descent participants as against Eastern European descent participants. Members of both ethnic minorities in Germany trust each other less than their own ethnic group, but do not discriminate against ones of German parentage. We also examine whether releasing information on the trustee being rich reduces ethnic differentiation, while conjecturing that this is a way to remove the stereotype that ethnic minorities are “undeserving poor”. We show that, in this case, discrimination by the ethnic majority is indeed reduced. People of Turkish descent who are rich tend to be more trusted than lower-income people of Turkish descent. However, releasing information on income can backfire, as it can increase mistrust within minorities. Finally, we show that group loyalty exists not only according to ethnicity but also according to income, as rich German parentage subjects trust other rich in-group members significantly more than do non-rich Germans.
    Keywords: ethnic discrimination, in-group bias, income inequality, online experiment, trust
    JEL: C99 J71
    Date: 2020–10–26
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stdaaa:2020/04-en&r=all
  2. By: El-Bialy, Nora; Fraile Aranda, Elisa; Nicklisch, Andreas; Saleh, Lamis; Voigt, Stefan
    Abstract: The civil war in Syria has been raging since 2011. We ask whether civil war experience affects voluntary cooperation and its coordination by means of peer punishment. To answer that question, we ran experiments with Syrians and Jordanians, and use a victimization index to measure the individual war exposure among Syrians. Despite being more trusting, severely victimized Syrians tend to be less cooperative when subsequent peer punishment is possible. Severely victimized participants punish whenever possible, not distinguishing between their opponent s decisions. Our findings show that experiencing extreme violence deteriorates the adequate use of sanctioning mechanisms.
    Keywords: Civil war,Victimization,Trust,Cooperation,Punishment
    JEL: C72 C93 D91 O15 Z13
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:40&r=all
  3. By: Giorgio Fagiolo
    Abstract: In this paper, I study epidemic diffusion in a generalized spatial SEIRD model, where individuals are initially connected in a social or geographical network. As the virus spreads in the network, the structure of interactions between people may endogenously change over time, due to quarantining measures and/or spatial-distancing policies. I explore via simulations the dynamic properties of the co-evolutionary process dynamically linking disease diffusion and network properties. Results suggest that, in order to predict how epidemic phenomena evolve in networked populations, it is not enough to focus on the properties of initial interaction structures. Indeed, the co-evolution of network structures and compartment shares strongly shape the process of epidemic diffusion, especially in terms of its speed. Furthermore, I show that the timing and features of spatial-distancing policies may dramatically influence their effectiveness.
    Keywords: Corona Virus Disease; COVID-19; Diffusion Models on Networks; Spatial SEIRD Models.
    Date: 2020–10–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2020/27&r=all
  4. By: Brañas-Garza, Pablo; Jorrat, Diego; Alfonso-Costillo, Antonio; Espín, Antonio M.; Garcia, Teresa; Kovářík, Jaromír
    Abstract: We report data from an online experiment, which allow us to study whether generosity has changed during the early Covid-19 pandemic. We have gathered data from Spanish participants over a six-day period in which Covid-19-associated deaths in Spain, one of the most affected countries, increased fourfold. In our experiment, participants could donate a fraction of a €100 prize to a charity. Our data are particularly rich in the age distribution and we complement them with daily public information about the Covid-19-related deaths, infections, and hospital admissions. We find that donations decreased in the period under study and scale down with the public information about the life and health impact of the pandemic. The effect is particularly pronounced among older subjects. Our analysis of the mechanisms behind the detected decrease in solidarity highlights the key—but independent—role of expectations about others’ behavior, perceived mortality risk, and (alarming) information in behavioral adaptation.
    Keywords: Generosity, Covid-19, Experiments, Social Preferences
    JEL: C93 D64
    Date: 2020–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:103389&r=all
  5. By: Sgroi, Daniel (University of Warwick); Redoano, Michela (University of Warwick); Liberini, Federica (ETH Zurich); Lockwood, Ben (University of Warwick); Bracco, Emanuele (Lancaster University); Porcelli, Francesco (University of Warwick)
    Abstract: In a pre-registered experiment involving 1,547 subjects across three Italian cities we exploit regional variation in background, language and diet to investigate the relationship between cultural identity, trust and cooperation. Subjects with relatives (especially maternal grandmothers) who originate in the north of Italy, and who share common cultural characteristics, contributed 15% more in a public goods game, displayed greater "social capital" such as trust in the government and more willingness to pay taxes, than did those whose language and diet identified them as being from the south. On the other hand, self-reported identity, a mainstay of the survey literature, had no predictive power. This highlights the importance of identity but only when it is measured appropriately.
    Keywords: social capital, trust, identity, language, experiments
    JEL: Z13 D91 C83 C93
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13783&r=all
  6. By: Blanco, M; Guerra, J. A.
    Abstract: How do various sources of social identity affect segregation and discrimination decisions? In our laboratory experiment, social identity originates either from similar preferences, income, ability, randomly or from shared socioeconomic status. For the latter, we exploit Colombia’s unique (public information) stratification system which assigns households to socioeconomic strata based on its residential block amenities. Subjects decide with whom to interact in a Dictator and Trust Game. We find high socioeconomic status senders segregate against out-group receivers in the Dictator Game, while low socioeconomic ones do so in the Trust Game. This segregation pattern is partly explained by payoff-maximizing behavior. In the Trust Game, we gather evidence for statistical discrimination. In the Dictator Game, evidence points to a taste for redistribution when identity originates from socioeconomic status or income level. No matter the source of identity, our subjects expect being segregated but not discriminated against.
    Keywords: Socioeconomic status, stratification, segregation, discrimination, laboratory experiment
    JEL: C91 D91 J15 Z13
    Date: 2020–09–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:018407&r=all
  7. By: Sarracino, Francesco; Riillo, Cesare Fabio Antonio
    Abstract: An extensive debate on the determinants of people's support for globalization concluded that it is necessary to leverage on welfare schemes to compensate those who lose from globalization. Yet, this solution is not universally accepted and it may not be viable in times of budget constraints. We test the hypothesis that confidence in institutions improves people's acceptance of globalization. We use micro data from the Eurobarometer, the European Social Survey and the European Quality of Life Survey to study the case of Luxembourg, a small and open economy, highly integrated in international markets and in which immigrants are more than half of the total residents. Figures indicate that confidence in institutions, and in particular in international ones, increases people's acceptance of globalization. However, when globalization is considered as free movement of people across borders, confidence in international institutions plays a major role. These results are robust to reverse causality.
    Keywords: Globalization; Migration; Institutions; Confidence.
    JEL: D02 F22 O19
    Date: 2020–10–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:103692&r=all
  8. By: Oliver Rehbein (University of Bonn, Institute for Finance & Statistics); Simon Rother (University of Bonn, Institute for Finance & Statistics)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes social connectedness as an information channel in bank lending. We move beyond the inefficient lending between peers in exclusive networks by exploiting Facebook data that reflect social ties within the U.S. population. After accounting for physical and cultural distances, social connectedness increases cross-county lending, especially when lending requires more information and screening incentives are intact. On average, a standard-deviation increase in social connectedness increases cross-county lending by 24.5%, which offsets the lending barrier posed by 600 miles between borrower and lender. While the ex-ante risk of a loan is unrelated to social connectedness, borrowers from well-connected counties cause smaller losses if they default. Borrowers' counties tend to profit from their social proximity to bank lending, as GDP growth and employment increase with social proximity. Our results reveal the important role of social connectedness in bank lending, partly explain the large effects of physical distance, and suggest implications for antitrust policies.
    Keywords: bank lending, social networks, information frictions, distance, culture
    JEL: D82 D83 G21 O16 L14 Z13
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:033&r=all
  9. By: Anaïs Périlleux; Ariane Szafarz
    Abstract: How do women leaders such as board members and top managers influence the social performance of organizations? This paper addresses the question by exploiting a unique database from a Senegalese network of 36 financial cooperatives. We scrutinize the loan-granting decisions, made jointly by the locally elected board and the top manager assigned by the central union of the network. Our findings are threefold. First, female-dominated boards favor social orientation. Second, female managers tend to align their strategy with local boards' preferences. Third, the central union tends to assign male managers to female-dominated boards, probably to curb the boards’ social orientation.
    Keywords: Gender; Leadership; Governance; Microfinance; Africa; Senegal
    JEL: G20 J54 O16 G34 O55 L31
    Date: 2020–10–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/313177&r=all
  10. By: Fredriksson, Per G.; Gupta, Satyendra Kumar
    Abstract: This paper proposes that ancestral use of irrigation reduces contemporary female labor force participation and female property rights. We test this hypothesis using an exogenous measure of irrigation and data from the Afrobarometer, cross-country data, the European Social Survey, the American Community Survey, and the India Demographic and Household Survey. Our hypothesis receives considerable empirical support. We find negative associations between ancestral irrigation and actual female labor force participation, and attitudes to such participation, in contemporary African and Indian populations, 2nd generation European immigrants, 1.5 and 2nd generation US immigrants, and in cross-country data. Moreover, ancestral irrigation is negatively associated with attitudes to female property rights in Africa and with measures of such rights across countries. Our estimates are robust to a host of control variables and alternative specifications. We propose multiple potential partial mechanisms. First, in pre-modern societies the men captured technologies complementary to irrigation, raising their relative productivity. Fertility increased. This caused lower female participation in agriculture and subsistence activities, and the women worked closer to home. Next, due to the common pool nature of irrigation water, historically irrigation has involved more frequent warfare. This raised the social status of men and restricted women's movement. These two mechanisms have produced cultural preferences against female participation in the formal labor market. Finally, irrigation produced both autocracy and a culture of collectivism. These are both associated with weaker female property rights.
    Keywords: Irrigation,agriculture,culture,gender,norms,labor force participation,property rights
    JEL: J16 J21 N50 O10 P14 Q15 Z13
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:681&r=all
  11. By: Vincenzo Alfano; Salvatore Ercolano; Gaetano Vecchione
    Abstract: By changing many aspects of everyday life, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distance policies implemented to face it have affected the behaviour of many people, all over the world. Has the pandemic also affected people approach toward the divine? Previous evidences suggest that the prayer search over the Internet rose during the pandemic and that people tend to mainly rely on intrinsic religiosity rather than extrinsic to cope with adversity. In this contribution, by the means of a set of panel random effect estimators, we compare the change in religious attendance in Italian regions before and during the pandemic. Our results suggest that there is an increase in religiosity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our findings are robust to several specifications of the model and to different estimators. This suggest that people derive more comfort from extrinsic religious activities during hard times, characterized by uncertainty.
    Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, religious attending, mass, mass streaming
    JEL: Z12 N34 I12
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8596&r=all
  12. By: Potts, Danielle; Martensen, Malte
    Abstract: Germany's population is currently undergoing a major shift as well as a general decline. These changes are expected to impact not only the workforce but also the social systems dependent on having a steady supply of individuals contributing to them. While no single solution alone is likely to be enough to resolve the upcoming challenges, the post-graduation employment of international students may help. However, even though there are jobs available, many international students in Germany struggle to find work after completing their studies. How, and with who, international students form their networks in the host country may play a crucial role in successful employment. While research has been conducted on international student friendship formation, social capital, and employability, little to no research has been conducted on how these elements interact when employment in the host country is the goal of an international student post-graduation. A better understanding of the role friendship plays in developing host country social capital could be key in guaranteeing international students to find employment in their host country post-graduation. Additionally, for Germany in particular, this will mean more filled positions and potentially reduced strain on workforce dependent social systems in the future.
    Keywords: International Students,Friendship Formation,Social Capital,Employability,Germany
    JEL: M54
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iubhhr:42020&r=all
  13. By: Ngo, Chin; Nguyen, Quyen Le Hoang Thuy To; Nguyen, Phong Thanh
    Abstract: The research has been conducted to explore the combination of three intangible resources, including social capital, entrepreneurship, and resilience capability on the performance of State Capital Enterprises (SCEs) in Vietnam. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in the study. An in-depth interview of ten CEOs at SCEs in Vietnam was made to explore new indicators for the contextual latent variables in the research models. By employing the data from the authors’ survey of 568 SCEs in Vietnam in 2019, using Cronbach’s alpha, confrmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis (SEM), the mechanism that social capital impacts on SCE performance has been analyzed. In addition to the direct role, social capital indirectly affects corporate performance through entrepreneurship and resilience capability. It was found that social capital has a larger impact on entrepreneurship than resilience capacity. However, the contribution of resilience capacity to the frm performance is much more than the entrepreneurship’s in Vietnamese context. This study enriches the theory by proposing a measurement scale of the contextual latent variables as a result of in-depth interviews with experts using a qualitative analysis technique. In addition, the path analysis fndings suggest practical implications for managers to effectively use their resources in SCEs.
    Keywords: Social Capital, Entrepreneurship, Resilience Capability, Performance, State-Owned Enterprises, State-Capital Enterprises
    JEL: E24 J24 L31
    Date: 2020–04–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:103440&r=all
  14. By: Hager, Anselm (Humboldt-Universit¨at zu Berlin); Hensel, Lukas (University of Oxford); Hermle, Johannes (University of California, Berkeley and IZA); Roth, Christopher (University of Warwick)
    Abstract: Does party competition affect political activism? This paper studies the decision of party supporters to join political campaigns. We present a framework that incorporates supporters’ instrumental and expressive motives and illustrates that party competition can either increase or decrease party activism. To distinguish between these competing predictions, we implemented a field experiment with a European party during a national election. In a seemingly unrelated party survey, we randomly assigned 1,417 party supporters to true information that the canvassing activity of the main competitor party was exceptionally high. Using unobtrusive, real-time data on party supporters’ canvassing behavior, we find that treated respondents are 30 percent less likely to go canvassing. To investigate the causal mechanism, we leverage additional survey evidence collected two months after the campaign. Consistent with affective accounts of political activism, we show that increased competition lowered party supporters’ political self-efficacy, which plausibly led them to remain inactive.
    Keywords: Party Activism, Electoral Competition, Field Experiment, Campaigns JEL Classification:
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:488&r=all
  15. By: Kamei, Kenju
    Abstract: A literature in the social sciences proposes that humans can promote cooperation with strangers by signaling their generosity through investment in unrelated pro-social activities. This paper studied this hypothesis by conducting a laboratory experiment with an infinitely repeated prisoner’s dilemma game under random matching. A novel feature of the experiment is that each player first decided how much to donate to a charitable organization, the British Red Cross, and then this donation information was conveyed to the player’s matched partner. Surprisingly, the donation activities significantly undermined cooperation. This negative effect of charitable-giving was consistently observed regardless of whether players had a post-interaction opportunity to punish the partners. A detailed analysis suggests that the negative effect (a) resulted from the transmission of the charitable-giving information, not from the fact that subjects engaged in the charitable-giving, and (b) was caused by mis-coordination between the two parties who can both costly signal their generosity. This suggests that letting players have an implicit costly signaling opportunity has damaging unintended consequences for their interactions among strangers. Possible ways to encourage players to use costly signaling for mutual cooperation, such as partner choice, are also discussed in the paper.
    Keywords: experiment; cooperation; prisoner’s dilemma; charitable-giving; costly signaling
    JEL: C73 C9 D91
    Date: 2020–09–26
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:103678&r=all
  16. By: Upasak Das; Prasenjit Sarkhel; Sania Ashraf
    Abstract: Compliance with measures like social distancing, hand-washing and wearing masks have emerged as the dominant strategy to combat health risk from the COVID-19 pandemic. These behaviors are often argued to be pro-social, where one must incur private cost to benefit or protect others. Using self-reported data across India (n=934) through online survey, we assess if changes in perceived community compliance can predict changes in individual compliance behavior, controlling for the potential confounders. We observe statistically significant and positive relationship between the two, even after accounting for omitted variable bias, plausibly allowing us to view the results from a plausible causal lens. Further, we find subsequent lockdowns such as the ones imposed in India, have a detrimental effect on individual compliance though the gains from higher perceived community compliance seems to offset this loss. We also find that sensitization through community can be particularly effective for people with pre-existing co-morbidities. Our findings underscore the need for multi-level behavioral interventions involving local actors and community institutions to sustain private compliance during the pandemic.
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2010.12350&r=all
  17. By: Hager, Anselm (Humboldt-Universit¨at zu Berlin); Hensel, Lukas (University of Oxford); Hermle, Johannes (University of California, Berkeley and IZA); Roth, Christopher (University of Warwick)
    Abstract: Collective action is the result of the efforts of groups consisting of many individuals. This gives rise to strategic interactions: the decision of an individual to participate in collective action may depend on the efforts of both like-minded and opposing activists. This paper causally studies such strategic interactions in the context of left- and right-wing protests in Germany. In an experiment, we investigated whether randomly varied information on turnout of both like-minded and opposing movements impacts activists’ willingness to protest. In response to information about high turnout of their own group, left-wing activists increased their willingness to protest, consistent with theories of conditional cooperation. In contrast, right-wing activists decreased their willingness to protest, consistent with instrumental accounts and free-riding motives. For both groups, there was no significant reaction to information about turnout of the opposing movement. The results highlight substantial heterogeneity in strategic interactions and motives across the political spectrum
    Keywords: Political rallies, field experiment, strategic behavior, beliefs JEL Classification:
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:491&r=all
  18. By: Thanapauge Chamaratana (Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. Author-2-Name: Author-2-Workplace-Name: Author-3-Name: Author-3-Workplace-Name: Author-4-Name: Author-4-Workplace-Name: Author-5-Name: Author-5-Workplace-Name: Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:)
    Abstract: Objective - This article aims to examine the relationship in the social network of Thai student labourers or special migrants known as "Thai-Aus labourers", who are studying and working in Sydney, Australia. Methodology/Technique - Data was collected via in-depth interviews with 18 key Thai-Aus labourers in Sydney, Australia. These key informants were selected using the snowball technique. Content analysis was performed with the data based on the ATLAS.ti programme, and the social networks were analysed using the Ucinet and Netdraw programme. Finding - The results conclude that the relationships within the social networks of the Thai-Aus labourers were complex, although they each shared the same goal. The relationships were principally based on benefit exchange even though personal relationships appeared on the surface. Novelty - The directional flow in the pattern of benefit-giving and receiving, and the duration, did not affect relationships, which depended more on personal cases. Type of Paper – Empirical
    Keywords: Brokers; Social Network; Migrant Labour Network; Working Abroad of Thai Labourers.
    JEL: J21 J29
    Date: 2020–09–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr565&r=all
  19. By: Thiemo Fetzer (Department of Economics, University of Warwick); Robert Gold (University of Potsdam, IfW, and CESifo.)
    Abstract: This paper provides an overview on current research on the rise of populism in Europe. The focus is on economic developments that foster voting for populist parties and candidates. The paper argues that the simultaneity of macro-economic shocks from the financial crisis, globalization, and technological change increased inequality between skill and income groups. This increased the demand for populist policies amongst those on the losing side of economic development. Perceived distributional conflict was exacerbated by immigration and austerity policies. Economics alone, however, is not sufficient for explaining the large increases in electoral support of populists. While culture also plays a role, it is the individual voter who eventually decides whom to vote for. And populist parties are particular successful in developing strategies to attract voters that feel anxious about current and future economic developments.
    Keywords: populism, protest voting, globalization, European Union
    JEL: D72 F5 F6 H3 H5
    Date: 2019–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agz:wpaper:1901&r=all
  20. By: Bordignon, Massimo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Colussi, Tommaso (Catholic University Milan)
    Abstract: This paper develops a theoretical framework that makes predictions on (a) the conditions under which a populist party decides to run and the policy position it takes and (b) voters' response under different electoral systems. We test these predictions using data on Italian municipal elections over the 2009-2019 period and focusing on the electoral outcomes of the Five Star Movement. The empirical analysis shows: (i) populists are more likely to run under a Dual Ballot (DB) system and in municipalities where there is a large share of dissatisfied voters; (ii) when the populist runs, turnout increases under both Single and Dual Ballot systems; (iii) in a DB system, the populist candidate who ranked second in the first round has a higher probability of winning than the candidate of traditional party who ranked second by the same margin, as a result of increased turnout in the second round. We finally provide evidence that the low education and the young age of populist candidates are likely to deteriorate the efficiency of the local administration.
    Keywords: voting behavior, populism, Five Star Movement, municipal elections
    JEL: D72 D74 H56 D91
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13775&r=all
  21. By: Cibik, Ceren Bengu (Department of Economics,University of Warwick); Sgroi, Daniel (Department of Economics,University of Warwick)
    Abstract: We investigate the relationship between self-awareness and dishonesty in a preregistered experiment with 1,260 subjects. In a first experiment, we vary the level of awareness of subjects' own past dishonesty and explore the impact on behaviour in tasks that include the scope to lie. We nd that in single-person non-interactive tasks, self-awareness of dishonesty helps to lower dishonesty in the future. However, in tasks that are competitive in nature becoming more aware of past dishonesty raises the likelihood of dishonesty. We argue that this behaviour is consistent with cognitive dissonance. In a second experiment we vary the degree of competitiveness in one of our core tasks to further explore the interactions between self-awareness, (dis)honesty and competition. Our results show when and why pointing out those who have been (dis)honest in the past can be an effective way to induce honesty in the future and when it might back- re badly, and perhaps also shed some light on perceived increases in dishonesty in politics, the media and everyday life
    Date: 2020
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1307&r=all

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