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  3. American Economic Review
  4. June 2021
  5. Types of Contact: A Field Experiment on Collaborative and Adversarial Caste Integration

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

Types of Contact: A Field Experiment on Collaborative and Adversarial Caste Integration

  • Matt Lowe
American Economic Review
vol. 111, no. 6, June 2021
(pp. 1807–44)
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Abstract

I estimate the effects of collaborative and adversarial intergroup contact. I randomly assigned Indian men from different castes to participate in cricket leagues or to serve as a control group. League players faced variation in collaborative contact, through random assignment to homogeneous-caste or mixed-caste teams, and adversarial contact, through random assignment of opponents. Collaborative contact increases cross-caste friendships and efficiency in trade, and reduces own-caste favoritism. In contrast, adversarial contact generally reduces cross-caste interaction and efficiency. League participation reduces intergroup differences, suggesting that the positive aspects of intergroup contact more than offset the negative aspects in this setting.

Citation

Lowe, Matt. 2021. "Types of Contact: A Field Experiment on Collaborative and Adversarial Caste Integration." American Economic Review, 111 (6): 1807–44. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191780

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • C93 Field Experiments
  • D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
  • D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
  • Z21 Sports Economics: Industry Studies