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Norwegian

Positive framing does not solve the tragedy of the commons

Link to article:

[DOI] [PDF]

Authors:

Isaksen, Elisabeth T., Kjell Arne Brekke, and Andries Richter

Year:

2019

Reference:

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

vol 95, 45-56

Summary

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.

JEL:

C92; C72; D70

Keywords:

Public Goods experiment, Common Pool experiment, Framing, Externality, Strategic complements, Strategic substitutes, Rivalry

Project: