Working Paper: NBER ID: w25683
Authors: Samuel Bazzi; Arya Gaduh; Alexander D. Rothenberg; Maisy Wong
Abstract: We use a population resettlement program in Indonesia to identify long-run effects of intergroup contact on national integration. In the 1980s, the government relocated two million ethnically diverse migrants into hundreds of new communities. We find greater integration in fractionalized communities with many small groups, as measured by national language use at home, intermarriage, and children's name choices. However, in polarized communities with a few large groups, ethnic attachment increases and integration declines. Residential segregation dampens these effects. Social capital, public goods, and ethnic conflict follow similar patterns. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of localized contact in shaping identity.
Keywords: intergroup contact; nation building; Indonesia; ethnic diversity; integration
JEL Codes: D02; D71; J15; O15; R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| greater integration in fractionalized communities (F02) | increased national language use at home (H59) |
| one standard deviation increase in fractionalization (C46) | 12.9 percentage point increase in the use of the national language at home (C80) |
| one standard deviation increase in polarization (C46) | 8 percentage point decrease in national language use at home (J15) |
| polarized communities with a few large groups (D72) | ethnic attachment increases and integration declines (J15) |
| diversity fosters intergroup connections (O36) | interethnic marriage rates positively correlate with fractionalization (J15) |
| diversity fosters intergroup connections (O36) | interethnic marriage rates negatively correlate with polarization (J15) |
| parents in more fractionalized communities (J12) | likely to choose less ethnically distinctive names for their children (J15) |
| residential segregation limits intergroup contact (R23) | dampens the effects of both fractionalization and polarization on national integration (H77) |