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Social Identity, Attitudes Towards Cooperation, and Social Preferences: Evidence From Switzerland

Author

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  • Devesh Rustagi

    (Goethe University Frankfurt)

  • Marcella Veronesi

    (Department of Economics (University of Verona))

Abstract

We investigate the role of social identity in explaining individual variation in social preferences in the domain of cooperation. We combine measures of social identity at both extensive and intensive margins with measures of social preferences elicited using a public goods game in the strategy method among a representative sample of Swiss households. We document a strong association between social identity and social preferences, which becomes stronger with the degree of social identity. Using different data sources, we show that social identity matters also for attitudes towards cooperation. Our results are not driven by differences in national or even local institutions, geography, historical, and economic conditions. Additional analyses show that grandparental and parental background shapes social identity, as well as social preferences. Our design allows us to go beyond behavior and disentangle social preferences from beliefs, highlighting the importance of social identity for deeper social preferences in a natural field setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Devesh Rustagi & Marcella Veronesi, 2016. "Social Identity, Attitudes Towards Cooperation, and Social Preferences: Evidence From Switzerland," Working Papers 01/2016, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ver:wpaper:01/2016
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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Bigoni & Stefania Bortolotti & Marco Casari & Diego Gambetta, 2019. "At the Root of the North–South Cooperation Gap in Italy: Preferences or Beliefs?," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(619), pages 1139-1152.
    2. Aepli, Manuel & Kuhn, Andreas & Schweri, Jürg, 2021. "Culture, norms, and the provision of training by employers: Evidence from the Swiss language border," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Hett, Florian & Kröll, Markus & Mechtel, Mario, 2017. "Choosing Who You Are: The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Identification Preferences," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168223, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Pietro Battiston & Simona Gamba, 2020. "When the two ends meet: an experiment on cooperation and social capital," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 911-940, October.
    5. Tabellini, Guido & Persson, Torsten, 2020. "Culture, Institutions and Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 15233, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Bauer, Kevin, 2020. "How did we do? The impact of relative performance feedback on intergroup hostilities," SAFE Working Paper Series 281, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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