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One nation under a groove? Understanding national identity

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  • Georgiadis, Andreas
  • Manning, Alan

Abstract

There is a lot of evidence that identity matters for behaviour. There is a widespread belief that societies will function better if they manage to establish a common sense of identity among the population and contemporary fears in many countries that this common identity is threatened. This paper presents a simple framework for the determinants of identity and uses it to inform an empirical investigation of the correlates of national identity in Britain. Our main conclusions are that people who feel they are treated with respect and who feel tolerated are the most likely to identify with feeling part of Britain.

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  • Georgiadis, Andreas & Manning, Alan, 2013. "One nation under a groove? Understanding national identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 166-185.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:93:y:2013:i:c:p:166-185
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2012.10.013
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    3. Liberini, Federica & Oswald, Andrew J. & Proto, Eugenio & Redoano, Michela, 2019. "Was Brexit triggered by the old and unhappy? Or by financial feelings?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 287-302.
    4. Stuart Campbell, 2019. "National identity among economic and non-economic immigrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 411-438, June.
    5. Prömel, Christopher, 2023. "Belonging or estrangement—The European Refugee Crisis and its effects on immigrant identity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Alexander Hamilton & John Hudson, 2014. "Bribery and identification: evidence from Sudan," Department of Economics Working Papers 21/14, University of Bath, Department of Economics.
    7. Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2013. "Immigrants, ethnic identities and the nation-state," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 14, pages 259-275, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Arne Risa Hole & Anita Ratcliffe, 2020. "The Impact of the London Bombings on the Well‐Being of Adolescent Muslims," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(4), pages 1606-1639, October.
    9. Prömel, Christopher, 2021. "Belonging or estrangement: The European refugee crisis and its effects on immigrant identity," Discussion Papers 2021/16, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    10. Campbell, Stuart & Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana & Popli, Gurleen & Ratcliffe, Anita, 2019. "Parental Ethnic Identity and Child Development," IZA Discussion Papers 12104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Grote, Nora & Klausmann, Tim & Scharfbillig, Mario, 2023. "Investment in identity in the field-Nudging refugees’ integration effort," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Chen, Wei-Lin & Lin, Ming-Jen & Yang, Tzu-Ting, 2023. "Curriculum and national identity: Evidence from the 1997 curriculum reform in Taiwan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    13. Deole, Sumit S., 2019. "Justice delayed is assimilation denied: Right-wing terror and immigrants' assimilation in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 69-78.
    14. Stuart Campbell, 2014. "Does it matter why immigrants came here? Original motives, the labour market, and national identity in the UK," DoQSS Working Papers 14-14, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    15. Stuart Campbell & Ana Nuevo‐Chiquero & Gurleen Popli & Anita Ratcliffe, 2020. "Parental Ethnic Identity and Child Test Scores," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 851-881, December.
    16. Slotwinski, Michaela & Stutzer, Alois, 2015. "The Deterrent Effect of Voting Against Minarets: Identity Utility and Foreigners' Location Choice," IZA Discussion Papers 9497, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Jolian McHardy & Anita Ratcliffe, 2017. "Identity conflict: A framework and empirical investigation," Working Papers 2017006, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    18. Nico Ochmann, 2024. "Wages of UK immigrant men across generations: who catches up?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 395-411.
    19. Chun-Fang Chiang & Jin-Tan Liu & Tsai-Wei Wen, 2019. "National identity under economic integration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 351-367, April.
    20. Sumit S. Deole, 2018. "Justice Delayed is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 7235, CESifo.
    21. Nils Braakmann, 2021. "Immigration Status Uncertainty and Mental Health—Evidence from Brexit," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 521-548, October.
    22. Nora Grote & Tim Klausmann & Mario Scharfbillig, 2019. "Investment in Identity in the Field - Nudging Refugees' Integration Effort," Working Papers 1905, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, revised 24 Sep 2021.
    23. Constant, Amelie F., 2014. "Ethnic Identity and Work," IZA Discussion Papers 8571, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Sumit S. Deole, 2018. "Justice Delayed Is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1005, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Identity; Multiculturalism;

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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