TY - JOUR
T1 - When the Sorting Hat Sorts Randomly
T2 - A Natural Experiment on Culture
AU - Ricart-Huguet, Joan
AU - Paluck, Elizabeth Levy
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank participants at various seminars at Princeton University, the Berlin Social Science Research Center (WZB), Columbia University, the CAPERS at NYU, the Harvard Experiments Working Group, the Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society, the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, the American Political Science Association and the Midwest Political Science Association for useful comments. More colleagues than we can list here provided generous advice and feedback. They include Bernd Beber, Torben Behmer, Roland Benabou, Carles Boix, Paul DiMaggio, Ruth Ditlmann, Guy Grossman, Anselm Hager, Johannes Haushofer, Raymond Hicks, Kimuli Kasara, Joshua Kertzer, Erik Kimbrough, Elisabeth King, David Laitin, Gwyneth McClendon, Brandon Miller de la Cuesta, Salma Moussa, Cyrus Samii, Alex Scacco, Eldar Shafir, Adam Slez, Dan Smith, Manuela Travaglianti, Leonard Wantchekon, and Shana Warren. We are indebted to Samuel Ouma for the conversation that led to this project, and to Edwin Mayoki and Catherine Tabingwa for co-leading the research team in Uganda and being engaged in the project since day one. We are very grateful to the faculty, staff, and student leadership of Makerere University for their time and support, including Professors Barnabas Nawangwe and Ernest Okello Ogwang, Dean Cyriaco Kabagambe, Deputy Dean Stephen Kateega, Edward Lukabala, and former Guild President Ivan Bwowe. The team at Innovations for Poverty Action in Uganda conducted the alumni survey and was expertly led by Vianney Mbonigaba, Antoine Guilhin, and Kepher Tugezeku. Finally, we acknowledge the generous financial support from the Mamdouha Bobst Center for Peace and Justice, the Fund for Experimental Social Sciences, and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 J. Ricart-Huguet and E. L. Paluck.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Culture is a central but elusive concept in the social sciences, and so are its effects. We leverage a natural experiment in the oldest university in East Africa — a cradle of economic and political elites — where students are randomly assigned to live in halls of residence that have maintained distinct student cultures since the 1970s. A broad consensus at the university characterizes certain halls as sociable and activist, and others as academically minded and respectful. Using an original survey of current students and behavioral games, we find that hall cultures influence a mixture of individual and interpersonal outcomes, specifically students’ time preferences, identity, and interpersonal trust and generosity. However, they do not influence students’ academic performance, social habits, or political preferences. An alumni survey suggests that cultural influence wanes but some effects endure, notably participation in activism. Our results provide novel evidence that cultural influence extends to several social domains.
AB - Culture is a central but elusive concept in the social sciences, and so are its effects. We leverage a natural experiment in the oldest university in East Africa — a cradle of economic and political elites — where students are randomly assigned to live in halls of residence that have maintained distinct student cultures since the 1970s. A broad consensus at the university characterizes certain halls as sociable and activist, and others as academically minded and respectful. Using an original survey of current students and behavioral games, we find that hall cultures influence a mixture of individual and interpersonal outcomes, specifically students’ time preferences, identity, and interpersonal trust and generosity. However, they do not influence students’ academic performance, social habits, or political preferences. An alumni survey suggests that cultural influence wanes but some effects endure, notably participation in activism. Our results provide novel evidence that cultural influence extends to several social domains.
KW - Africa
KW - culture
KW - elites
KW - identity
KW - natural experiment
KW - socialization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151874976&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1561/100.00020045
DO - 10.1561/100.00020045
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151874976
SN - 1554-0626
VL - 18
SP - 39
EP - 73
JO - Quarterly Journal of Political Science
JF - Quarterly Journal of Political Science
IS - 1
ER -