TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing the detrimental effect of identity voting
T2 - An experiment on intergroup coordination in China
AU - Morton, Rebecca B.
AU - Ou, Kai
AU - Qin, Xiangdong
N1 - Funding Information:
We received financial and other in-kind support from the Chinese Social Science Foundation Grant 11BJY008 and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University ?985 Project Third Phase.? Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the LSE-NYU Political Economy Workshop in London and the Department of Political Science Seminar Series at the University of Pittsburgh. We have benefitted from the helpful comments and advice of Sera Linardi, Jon Woon, and Sotiris Georganas.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - A frequently mentioned impediment to intergroup coordination are pre-existing and long-standing divisions between voters along social and ethnic lines. While there are compelling discussions of the effects of identities on voting – focusing on either minimal group identities or naturally occurring identities – scholarly understanding of how to reduce the detrimental effect of identity voting remains limited. In this study, we compare the differential effects of payoff relevant minimal group identities and ethnic identities on intergroup coordination, and explore the effectiveness of repetition and communication on intergroup cooperation. We present findings from a series of experiments conducted in China with Tibetan and Han Chinese, with variations in the degree of identity salience and focality of the choices. We find that the naturally occurring ethnicities are indeed more salient than the minimal group identities. To a large extent, repetition and communication work to reduce the identity effects on voting, even when these effects are strongly reinforced by other identities. We find that conflicting multiple identities appear to be the most difficult to overcome in voter coordination games, but over time, we see that subjects achieve greater coordination through communication.
AB - A frequently mentioned impediment to intergroup coordination are pre-existing and long-standing divisions between voters along social and ethnic lines. While there are compelling discussions of the effects of identities on voting – focusing on either minimal group identities or naturally occurring identities – scholarly understanding of how to reduce the detrimental effect of identity voting remains limited. In this study, we compare the differential effects of payoff relevant minimal group identities and ethnic identities on intergroup coordination, and explore the effectiveness of repetition and communication on intergroup cooperation. We present findings from a series of experiments conducted in China with Tibetan and Han Chinese, with variations in the degree of identity salience and focality of the choices. We find that the naturally occurring ethnicities are indeed more salient than the minimal group identities. To a large extent, repetition and communication work to reduce the identity effects on voting, even when these effects are strongly reinforced by other identities. We find that conflicting multiple identities appear to be the most difficult to overcome in voter coordination games, but over time, we see that subjects achieve greater coordination through communication.
KW - Communication
KW - Identities
KW - Intergroup coordination
KW - Lab-in-the-field experiment
KW - Other-regarding choices
KW - Repetition
KW - Tibetan
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.02.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.02.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85061673836
SN - 0167-2681
VL - 174
SP - 320
EP - 331
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
ER -