Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/130221 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IWH Discussion Papers No. 12/2016
Publisher: 
Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH), Halle (Saale)
Abstract: 
We exploit the natural experiment of German re-unification to address the question whether distress from social (income) comparisons results in negative attitudes towards foreigners. Our empirical approach rests upon East German individuals who have West German peers. We use the exogenous variation of wealth of West German peers shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall as an instrument to identify the effect of distress from social comparisons on East Germans' attitudes. We find robust evidence that East Germans expose strong negative attitudes towards foreigners, particularly from low-wage countries, if they worry about their economic status compared to better-off peers.
Subjects: 
social comparison
attitudes towards foreigner
natural experiment
JEL: 
D31
J61
N34
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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