Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP15683
Authors: Laura Arnemann; Kai A. Konrad; Niklas Potrafke
Abstract: We examine whether collective memories on the aid&reform programs chosen to handle the 2010 European debt crisis differ between citizens from borrower and lender countries. We use new international survey data for non-experts and experts in member countries of the euro area. The results show that non-experts from borrower and lender countries remember aspects of the programs in different manners; indicating biases for assessments of how the crisis outcomes are perceived in borrower and lender countries. Nation-serving biases may well explain if the European debt crisis has reduced the sense of belonging rather than bringing European citizens closer together.
Keywords: collective memories; european debt crisis; nation-serving biases; aid-reform programmes; experts
JEL Codes: F36; F55; H12; H87
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| nonexperts from borrower countries (F34) | different recollection of the aid-reform programs (F35) |
| nonexperts from borrower countries (F34) | belief that lender countries benefited mainly from the rescue programs (F34) |
| experts from both borrower and lender countries (F34) | exhibit significant differences in memories of the crisis (H12) |
| collective memories (P32) | influence cooperation and conflict between states (D74) |