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Interregional contact and national identity

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Roth
  • Manuel Bagues
Abstract
Countries across Europe have struggled in recent decades to prevent secessionist movements, win wide support for social safety nets, and tackle problems demanding collective action. This column argues that to accomplish such goals requires a sense of shared, national identity. Exploiting a unique natural experiment – the random assignment of conscripts in Spain to serve outside their home region – it finds that intergroup contact in early adulthood can encourage interregional social cohesion. Governments looking to promote national identity should consider policies, such as mobility in higher education, that bring together people from different regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Roth & Manuel Bagues, 2022. "Interregional contact and national identity," ECONtribute Policy Brief Series 032, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkpbs:032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cáceres-Delpiano, Julio & De Moragas, Antoni-Italo & Facchini, Gabriel & González, Ignacio, 2021. "Intergroup contact and nation building: Evidence from military service in Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    2. Leonardo Bursztyn & Thomas Chaney & Tarek Alexander Hassan & Aakash Rao, 2021. "The Immigrant Next Door: Exposure, Prejudice, and Altruism," Working Papers 2021-16, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    3. Leonardo Bursztyn & Thomas Chaney & Tarek Alexander Hassan & Aakaash Rao, 2021. "The Immigrant Next Door: Long-Term Contact, Generosity, and Prejudice," NBER Working Papers 28448, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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