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Persistent political engagement: social interactions and the dynamics of protest movements

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  • Bursztyn, Leonardo
  • Cantoni, Davide
  • Yang, David Y.
  • Yuchtman, Noam
  • Zhang, Y. Jane
Abstract
We study the causes of sustained participation in political movements. To identify the persistent effect of protest participation, we randomly indirectly incentivize Hong Kong university students into participation in an antiauthoritarian protest. To identify the role of social networks, we randomize this treatment’s intensity across major-cohort cells. We find that incentives to attend one protest within a political movement increase subsequent protest attendance but only when a sufficient fraction of an individual’s social network is also incentivized to attend the initial protest. One-time mobilization shocks have dynamic consequences, with mobilization at the social network level important for sustained political engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Bursztyn, Leonardo & Cantoni, Davide & Yang, David Y. & Yuchtman, Noam & Zhang, Y. Jane, 2021. "Persistent political engagement: social interactions and the dynamics of protest movements," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107087, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:107087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. repec:ehl:lserod:100316 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Luis R. Martinez & Jonas Jessen & Guo Xu, 2023. "A Glimpse of Freedom: Allied Occupation and Political Resistance in East Germany," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 68-106, January.
    2. Gonzalez, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Police Repression and Protest Behavior: Evidence from Student Protests in Chile," SocArXiv 3xk5r, Center for Open Science.
    3. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your Voice! Activism and Peer Effects in Online Social Networks," Working Papers 277, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    4. Edward Asiedu & Dean Karlan & Monica Lambon-Quayefio & Christopher Udry, 2021. "A call for structured ethics appendices in social science papers," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(29), pages 2024570118-, July.
    5. Michael Callen & Jonathan L. Weigel & Noam Yuchtman, 2024. "Experiments About Institutions," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 16(1), pages 105-131, August.
    6. Anselm Hager & Lukas Hensel & Johannes Hermle & Christopher Roth, 2023. "Political Activists as Free Riders: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(653), pages 2068-2084.
    7. Cantoni, Davide & Heizlsperger, Louis-Jonas & Yang, David Y. & Yuchtman, Noam & Zhang, Y. Jane, 2022. "The fundamental determinants of protest participation: Evidence from Hong Kong’s antiauthoritarian movement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    8. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your voice! Activism and peer effects in online social networks," Discussion Papers 2023-05, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    9. Roth, Christopher & Hager, Anselm & , & Stegmann, Andreas, 2021. "Voice and Political Engagement: Evidence From a Natural Field Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 16839, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Michele Battisti & Ilpo Kauppinen & Britta Rude, 2022. "Twitter and Crime: The Effect of Social Movements on GenderBased Violence," ifo Working Paper Series 381, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    11. Boris Ginzburg & José-Alberto Guerra, 2021. "Guns, pets, and strikes: an experiment on identity and political action," Documentos CEDE 19932, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    12. Balietti, Anca & Zeising, Tom, 2024. "Racial Disparities in Environmental Auditing," Working Papers 0745, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    13. Chenoweth, Erica & Hamilton, Barton H. & Lee, Hedwig & Papageorge, Nicholas W. & Roll, Stephen & Zahn, Matthew V., 2022. "Who Protests, What Do They Protest, and Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 15697, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Jesper Akesson & Sam Ashworth-Hayes & Robert Hahn & Robert Metcalfe & Itzhak Rasooly, 2022. "Fatalism, beliefs, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 147-190, April.
    15. Jan Gromadzki & Przemysław Siemaszko, 2022. "#IamLGBT: Social Networks and Coming Out," IBS Working Papers 06/2022, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    16. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2022. "Online Versus Offline: Which Networks Spur Protests?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9969, CESifo.
    17. Afridi, Farzana & Basistha, Ahana & Dhillon, Amrita & Serra, Danila, 2023. "Activating Change: The Role of Information and Beliefs in Social Activism," IZA Discussion Papers 16358, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Hager, Anselm & Hensel, Lukas & Hermle, Johannes & Roth, Christopher, 2022. "Group Size and Protest Mobilization across Movements and Countermovements," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(3), pages 1051-1066, August.
    19. Davide Cantoni & Andrew Kao & David Y. Yang & Noam Yuchtman, 2024. "Protests," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 16(1), pages 519-543, August.
    20. Levi Boxell & Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld, 2019. "Taxing dissent: The impact of a social media tax in Uganda," Papers 1909.04107, arXiv.org.
    21. Daniel Aaronson & Mark Borgschulte & Sunny Liu & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," Working Paper Series WP 2024-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    22. Sardoschau, Sulin & Casanueva, Annalí, 2024. "Public Signal and Private Action: Right-wing Protest and Hate Crimes against Refugees," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302408, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    23. DiTraglia, Francis J. & García-Jimeno, Camilo & O’Keeffe-O’Donovan, Rossa & Sánchez-Becerra, Alejandro, 2023. "Identifying causal effects in experiments with spillovers and non-compliance," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 1589-1624.
    24. Artís, Annalí Casanueva & Avetian, Vladimir & Sardoschau, Sulin & Saxena, Kavya, 2022. "Social Media and the Broadening of Social Movements: Evidence from Black Lives Matter," IZA Discussion Papers 15812, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    political movements; social interactions;

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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