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  5. The Economic Determinants of Political, Racial, and Gender Attitudes
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The Economic Determinants of Political, Racial, and Gender Attitudes

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (PST)

Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Michael David Ricks, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of U.S. Political Divides

Sahil Chinoy
,
Harvard University
Nathan Nunn
,
University of British Columbia
Sandra Sequeira
,
London School of Economics
Stefanie Stantcheva
,
Harvard University

Abstract

We investigate the origins and implications of zero-sum thinking – the belief that gains for one individual or group tend to come at the cost of others. Using a new survey of a representative sample of 20,400 US residents, we measure zero-sum thinking, political preferences, policy views, and a rich array of ancestral information spanning four generations. We find that a more zero-sum mindset is strongly associated with more support for government redistribution, race- and gender-based affirmative action, and more restrictive immigration policies. Furthermore, zero-sum thinking can be traced back to the experiences of both the individual and their ancestors, encompassing factors such as the degree of intergenerational upward mobility they experienced, whether they immigrated to the United States or lived in a location with more immigrants, and whether they were enslaved or lived in a location with more enslavement.

Broader Horizons: The Long-Run Impacts of Place on Social Attitudes

Michael David Ricks
,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Tanner Eastmond
,
University of California-San Diego

Abstract

We study how volunteering in different places shapes long-term views and behaviors using variation from the location assignments of volunteer missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Administering an original survey to 20,000 former volunteers, we find large effects of exposure to different places on long-run attitudes and behavior. Volunteering in places with higher Black or Latino populations engenders positive sentiment towards these groups and induces behaviors like residing in more diverse zip codes and supporting social justice causes. Exposure to locations with more liberal politics reduces affective polarization between Republicans and Democrats and related behaviors. Interestingly, we find no effects on attitudes about gender roles. Mechanism analyses suggest that whereas racial attitudes are moved by "contact," political attitudes seem to be affected through social learning.

School Desegregation and Political Preferences: Long-run Evidence from Kentucky

Ethan Kaplan
,
University of Maryland
Jörg Spenkuch
,
Northwestern University
Cody Tuttle
,
University of Texas-Austin

Abstract

In 1974, a federal court ordered that public schools in Jefferson County, KY be desegregated. To achieve racial integration, students were assigned to a busing schedule that depended on the first letter of their last name. This led to quasi-random variation in the number of years of busing and, for the initial cohorts, whether individuals were bused at all. We use this variation to estimate the long-run impact of busing on political participation and preferences. Focusing on white males, we do not detect any effect on voter turnout. We do, however, find that busing significantly increases Democratic party affiliation more than forty years later.

Who You Gonna Call? Gender Inequality in External Demands for Parental Involvemen

Kristy Buzard
,
Syracuse University
Laura Gee
,
Tufts University
Olga Stoddard
,
Brigham Young University

Abstract

Gender imbalance in time spent on children causes labor market gender inequalities. We investigate a novel source of this inequality: external demands for parental involvement. We pair a theoretical model with a large-scale field experiment with a near-universe of US schools. Schools receive an email from a two-parent household and are asked to contact one parent. Mothers are 1.4 times more likely than fathers to be contacted. We decompose this inequality into discrimination stemming from differential beliefs about parents’ responsiveness versus other factors, including gender norms. Our findings underscore how agents outside the household contribute to gender inequalities.

Discussant(s)
Steve Billings
,
University of Colorado-Boulder
Armando Miano
,
University of Naples Federico II
Tanner Eastmond
,
University of California-San Diego
JEL Classifications
  • P0 - General