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Race, diversity and pro-social behavior in a segmented society

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  • Burns, Justine

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of racial identity on behavior in trust games played by public high school students in South Africa. There is a systematic pattern of distrust towards Black partners, even by Black proposers, partially attributable to mistaken expectations. Non-Black proposers are significantly less likely to engage in a strategic interaction at all when paired with a Black partner, while Black proposers engage in exchange but at lower levels than when paired with non-Blacks. However, greater racial diversity in public schools promotes pro-social behavior towards Black partners.

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  • Burns, Justine, 2012. "Race, diversity and pro-social behavior in a segmented society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 366-378.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:81:y:2012:i:2:p:366-378
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.11.006
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    2. Dorrit Posel, 2022. "Within-Race Trust and the Trust Radius: Race Differences in Post-Apartheid South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 649-664, November.
    3. Beaurain, Guillaume & Masclet, David, 2016. "Does affirmative action reduce gender discrimination and enhance efficiency? New experimental evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 350-362.
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    5. Billur Aksoy & Catherine C. Eckel & Rick K. Wilson, 2018. "Can I Rely on You?," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, October.
    6. Hsieh, Chih-Sheng & Lin, Xu, 2024. "Gender and racial disparities in altruism in social networks," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
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    8. Pushkar Maitra & Ananta Neelim, 2024. "Discrimination in Developing Countries," Monash Economics Working Papers 2024-03, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    9. Lata Gangadharan & Tarun Jain & Pushkar Maitra & Joseph Vecci, 2016. "The behavioural implications of women's empowerment programmes," WIDER Working Paper Series 064, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Porter, Maria & Nuhu, Ahmed Salim & Nakasone, Eduardo & Maredia, Mywish K., 2025. "Trust, risk, and institutions: experimental evidence from a community of firms in Kenya," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    11. Darova, Ornella & Duchene, Anne, 2024. "Diversity in Teams: Collaboration and Performance in Experiments with Different Tasks," MPRA Paper 121976, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Werner, Katharina & Graf Lambsdorff, Johann, 2016. "Emotional numbing and lessons learned after a violent conflict - Experimental evidence from Ambon, Indonesia," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-74-16, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    13. Cetre, Sophie & Algan, Yann & Grimalda, Gianluca & Murtin, Fabrice & Pipke, David & Putterman, Louis & Schmidt, Ulrich & Siegerink, Vincent, 2024. "Ethnic bias, economic achievement and trust between large ethnic groups: A study in Germany and the U.S," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 996-1021.
    14. Burns, Justine & Keswell, Malcolm, 2015. "Diversity and the provision of public goods: Experimental evidence from South Africa," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 110-122.
    15. Gupta, Gautam & Mahmud, Minhaj & Maitra, Pushkar & Mitra, Santanu & Neelim, Ananta, 2018. "Religion, minority status, and trust: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 180-205.
    16. Sophie Cetre, 2020. "Essays on the determinants of wage inequality [Etudes des déterminants des inégalités salariales]," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) tel-03408393, HAL.
    17. Li, Sherry Xin & de Oliveira, Angela C.M. & Eckel, Catherine, 2017. "Common identity and the voluntary provision of public goods: An experimental investigation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 32-46.
    18. Werner, Katharina, 2016. "Whom do people trust after a violent conflict? Experimental evidence from Maluku, Indonesia," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-73-16, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    19. Pregaldini, Damiano & Balestra, Simone & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2022. "Does Ethnic Diversity in Schools Affect Occupational Choices?," IZA Discussion Papers 15780, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Lata Gangadharan & Tarun Jain & Pushkar Maitra & Joseph Vecci, 2016. "The behavioural implications of women's empowerment programmes," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-64, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Darova, Ornella & Duchene, Anne, 2024. "Diversity in Teams: Collaboration and Performance in Experiments with Different Tasks," MPRA Paper 120519, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Sophie Cetre, 2020. "Essays on the determinants of wage inequality [Etudes des déterminants des inégalités salariales]," SciencePo Working papers tel-03408393, HAL.
    23. Ece Yagman & Malcolm Keswell, 2015. "Accents, Race and Discrimination: Evidence from a Trust Game," SALDRU Working Papers 158, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    24. Gangadharan, Lata & Jain, Tarun & Maitra, Pushkar & Vecci, Joseph, 2016. "Social identity and governance: The behavioral response to female leaders," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 302-325.

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