Trust, ethnic diversity, and personal contact: A field experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Finseraas, Henning; Hanson, Torbjorn; Johnsen, Ashild A.; Kotsadam, Andreas; Torsvik, Gaute
• 署名单位: Norwegian Defence Research Establishment; Norwegian University of Life Sciences; University of Oslo
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2019.02.002
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 72-84
• 关键词: integration; field experiment; Etnic diversity; contact; trust

摘要

We study how close personal contact with minorities affects in-group and out-group trust in a field experiment in the armed forces. Soldiers are randomly assigned to rooms with or without ethnic minorities. At the end of the recruit period, we measure trust by using a trust game. Results indicate that close personal contact with minorities increases trust towards a generic immigrant. We replicate the result that individuals coming from more ethnically diverse areas trust minorities less, but random assignment to interact with minority soldiers removes this negative correlation. We conclude that social integration involving personal contact can reduce negative effects of ethnic diversity on trust. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.