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War and social attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Travers Barclay Child

    (China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, China)

  • Elena Nikolova

    (School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL, UK, Central European Labor Studies Institute, Slovakia and Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg, Germany)

Abstract

We study the long-run effects of conflict on social attitudes, with World War II in Central and Eastern Europe as our setting. Much of earlier work has relied on self-reported measures of victimization, which are prone to endogenous misreporting. With our own survey-based measure, we replicate established findings linking victimization to political participation, civic engagement, optimism, and trust. Those findings are reversed, however, when tested instead with an objective measure of victimization based on historical reference material. Thus, we urge caution when interpreting survey-based results from this literature as causal.

Suggested Citation

  • Travers Barclay Child & Elena Nikolova, 2020. "War and social attitudes," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(2), pages 152-171, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:37:y:2020:i:2:p:152-171
    DOI: 10.1177/0738894217750564
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elena Nikolova & Dora Simroth, 2015. "Religious diversity and entrepreneurship in transition: lessons for policymakers," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Michal Bauer & Christopher Blattman & Julie Chytilová & Joseph Henrich & Edward Miguel & Tamar Mitts, 2016. "Can War Foster Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 249-274, Summer.
    3. Michael J. Gilligan & Benjamin J. Pasquale & Cyrus Samii, 2014. "Civil War and Social Cohesion: Lab‐in‐the‐Field Evidence from Nepal," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(3), pages 604-619, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conflict; social attitudes; World War II;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General

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