How Do We Choose Our Identity? A Revealed Preference Approach Using Food Consumption

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Atkin, David; Colson-Sihra, Eve; Shayo, Moses
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/712761
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 1193-1251
• 关键词: Social identity; liberalization evidence; CONFLICT; NORMS; identification; diversity; POLITICS; culture; TRADE

摘要

Are identities fungible? How do people come to identify with specific groups? This paper proposes a revealed preference approach, using food consumption to uncover ethnic and religious identity choices in India. We first show that consumption of identity goods responds to forces suggested by social identity research: group status and group salience. Moreover, identity choices respond to the cost of following the group's prescribed behaviors. We propose and estimate a demand system to quantify the identity changes that followed India's 1991 reforms. While social identity research has focused on status and salience, our results suggest that economic costs also play an important role.