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Persistent Political Engagement: Social Interactions and the Dynamics of Protest Movements

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  • Leonardo Bursztyn
  • Davide Cantoni
  • David Y. Yang
  • Noam Yuchtman
  • Y. Jane Zhang

Abstract

We study the causes of sustained participation in political movements. To identify the persistent effect of protest participation, we randomly indirectly incentivize Hong Kong university students into participation in an antiauthoritarian protest. To identify the role of social networks, we randomize this treatment's intensity across major-cohort cells. We find that incentives to attend one protest within a political movement increase subsequent protest attendance but only when a sufficient fraction of an individual's social network is also incentivized to attend the initial protest. One-time mobilization shocks have dynamic consequences, with mobilization at the social network level important for sustained political engagement.

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  • Leonardo Bursztyn & Davide Cantoni & David Y. Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y. Jane Zhang, 2021. "Persistent Political Engagement: Social Interactions and the Dynamics of Protest Movements," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 233-250, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:3:y:2021:i:2:p:233-50
    DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20200261
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    5. Michael Callen & Jonathan L. Weigel & Noam Yuchtman, 2023. "Experiments about Institutions," NBER Working Papers 31964, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Anselm Hager & Lukas Hensel & Johannes Hermle & Christopher Roth, 2023. "Political Activists as Free Riders: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(653), pages 2068-2084.
    7. Hager, Anselm & Hensel, Lukas & Hermle, Johannes & Roth, Christopher, 2022. "Group Size and Protest Mobilization across Movements and Countermovements," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(3), pages 1051-1066, August.
    8. Roth, Christopher & Hager, Anselm & , & Stegmann, Andreas, 2021. "Voice and Political Engagement: Evidence From a Natural Field Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 16839, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Jesper Akesson & Sam Ashworth-Hayes & Robert Hahn & Robert Metcalfe & Itzhak Rasooly, 2022. "Fatalism, beliefs, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 147-190, April.
    10. Gonzalez, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Police Repression and Protest Behavior: Evidence from Student Protests in Chile," SocArXiv 3xk5r, Center for Open Science.
    11. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2022. "Online Versus Offline: Which Networks Spur Protests?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9969, CESifo.
    12. Jan Gromadzki & Przemysław Siemaszko, 2022. "#IamLGBT: Social Networks and Coming Out," IBS Working Papers 06/2022, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    13. Michele Battisti & Ilpo Kauppinen & Britta Rude, 2022. "Twitter and Crime: The Effect of Social Movements on GenderBased Violence," ifo Working Paper Series 381, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    14. Levi Boxell & Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld, 2019. "Taxing dissent: The impact of a social media tax in Uganda," Papers 1909.04107, arXiv.org.
    15. Erica Chenoweth & Barton H. Hamilton & Hedwig Lee & Nicholas W. Papageorge & Stephen P. Roll & Matthew V. Zahn, 2022. "Who Protests, What Do They Protest, and Why?," NBER Working Papers 29987, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Cantoni, Davide & Heizlsperger, Louis-Jonas & Yang, David Y. & Yuchtman, Noam & Zhang, Y. Jane, 2022. "The fundamental determinants of protest participation: Evidence from Hong Kong’s antiauthoritarian movement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    17. Afridi, Farzana & Basistha, Ahana & Dhillon, Amrita & Serra, Danila, 2023. "Activating Change: The Role of Information and Beliefs in Social Activism," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 675, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    18. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your voice! Activism and peer effects in online social networks," Discussion Papers 2023-05, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    19. Artís, Annalí Casanueva & Avetian, Vladimir & Sardoschau, Sulin & Saxena, Kavya, 2022. "Social Media and the Broadening of Social Movements: Evidence from Black Lives Matter," IZA Discussion Papers 15812, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your Voice! Activism and Peer Effects in Online Social Networks," Working Papers 277, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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