Culture and colonial legacy: Evidence from public goods games

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Authors
Chaudhary, Latika
Iyer, Sriya
Rubin, Jared
Shrivastava, Anand
Subjects
Colonialism
Cultural transmission
Lab-in-the-field experiment
India
Natural experiment
Public goods game
Advisors
Date of Issue
2020-04-05
Date
5 April 2020
Publisher
Elsevier
Language
Abstract
We conduct a public goods game in three small towns in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Due to historical military conquest, until 1947 these towns were on (barely) opposite sides of a colonial border separating British India from the Princely States. Our research design offers a treatment comparison between the towns of (British) Kekri and (Princely) Sarwar, and a control comparison between (Princely) Sarwar and (Princely) Shahpura. We find that participants in (British) Kekri are more co-operative (i.e., contribute more) in both home-town and mixed-town groups compared to those in (Princely) Sarwar. The latter differences are driven by individuals with family ties to the towns, and we find no differences in the control comparison. Our results highlight the enduring effects of colonial rule on social norms of co-operation.
Type
Article
Description
17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.03.005
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10945/68911
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Templeton Foundation
Funder
Templeton Foundation grant (#59214)
Format
24 p.
Citation
Chaudhary, Latika, et al. "Culture and colonial legacy: Evidence from public goods games." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 173 (2020): 107-129.
Distribution Statement
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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