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Religious fragmentation, social identity and cooperation: Evidence from a artefactual field experiment in India

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  • Surajeet Chakravarty

    (Department of Economics, University of Exeter)

  • Miguel A. Fonseca

    (Department of Economics, University of Exeter)

  • Sudeep Ghosh

    (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

  • Sugata Marjit

    (Center for Studies in the Social Sciences, Calcutta.)

Abstract

We study the role of village-level religious fragmentation on intra- and inter-group cooperation in India. We report on data on two-player Prisoners’ Dilemma and Stag Hunt experiments played by 516 Hindu and Muslim participants in rural India. Our treatments are the identity of the two players and the degree of village-level religious heterogeneity. In religiously-heterogeneous villages, cooperation rates in the Prisoners’ Dilemma are higher when subjects play with another in-group member for both Hindus and Muslims, but to a much lesser extent in the Stag Hunt game. This suggests that positive in-group biases operate primarily on the willingness to achieve socially efficient outcomes, rather than through beliefs about the actions by one's counterpart. Interestingly, cooperation rates among people of the same religion are significantly lower in homogeneous villages than in fragmented villages in both games. This is likely because a sense of group identity is only meaningful in the presence of an out-group. This, together with little evidence for out-group prejudice in either game, means religious diversity is beneficial.

Suggested Citation

  • Surajeet Chakravarty & Miguel A. Fonseca & Sudeep Ghosh & Sugata Marjit, 2015. "Religious fragmentation, social identity and cooperation: Evidence from a artefactual field experiment in India," Discussion Papers 1501, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:exe:wpaper:1501
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    10. Cason, Timothy N. & Lau, Sau-Him Paul & Mui, Vai-Lam, 2019. "Prior interaction, identity, and cooperation in the Inter-group Prisoner's Dilemma," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 613-629.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Identity; Social Fragmentation; Artefactual Field Experiment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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