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The Origins of Common Identity: Evidence from Alsace-Lorraine

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  • Sirus Dehdari
  • Kai Gehring

Abstract

The quasi-exogenous division of the French regions Alsace and Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War allows us to provide evidence about group identity formation within historically homogeneous regions. We use several measures of stated and revealed preferences at the municipal-level in a geographical regression discontinuity design. More nation-state repression is associated with a strengthening of regional identity in the short, medium, and long run. We explain this in a model and document that the establishment of regionalist organizations is a key mechanism to strengthen identity. A relatively stronger regional compared to national identity is associated with preferences for more regional decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Sirus Dehdari & Kai Gehring, 2019. "The Origins of Common Identity: Evidence from Alsace-Lorraine," CESifo Working Paper Series 7949, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7949
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alberto Alesina & Enrico Spolaore, 1997. "On the Number and Size of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1027-1056.
    2. Stephanos Vlachos, 2019. "On war and political radicalization," Vienna Economics Papers 1904, University of Vienna, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Felipe Carozzi & Edward Pinchbeck & Luca Repetto, 2023. "Scars of War: The Legacy of WW1 Deaths on Civic Capital and Combat Motivation," CESifo Working Paper Series 10298, CESifo.
    3. Andrea Bonoldi & Chiara Dalle Nogare & Martin Mosler & Niklas Potrafke, 2020. "Do inheritance rules affect voter turnout? Evidence from an Alpine region," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 395-445, December.
    4. Vlachos, Stephanos, 2022. "On war and political radicalization: Evidence from forced conscription into the Wehrmacht," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    5. Fontana, Nicola & Nannicini, Tommaso & Tabellini, Guido, 2023. "Historical roots of political extremism: The effects of Nazi occupation of Italy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 723-743.
    6. Cáceres-Delpiano, Julio & De Moragas, Antoni-Italo & Facchini, Gabriel & González, Ignacio, 2021. "Intergroup contact and nation building: Evidence from military service in Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    7. Klein, Miriam & Wiens, Marcus & Schultmann, Frank, 2022. "Borderland resilience, willingness to help and trust–An empirical study of the French-German border area," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Tao, Yunqing & Wang, Dianjie & Ye, Yongwei & Wu, Haitao & Zhang, Yao, 2023. "The role of public environmental concern on corporate social responsibility: Evidence from search index of web users," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Kukić, Leonard, 2023. "The last Yugoslavs: Ethnic diversity and national identity," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Gehring, Kai & Kaplan, Lennart C. & Wong, Melvin H.L., 2022. "China and the World Bank—How contrasting development approaches affect the stability of African states," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    11. Kersting, Felix & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2024. "On the origins of national identity. German nation-building after Napoleon," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 463-477.
    12. Kukic, Leonard & Arslantas, Yasin, 2022. "Religious change and persistence in Bosnia: Poverty, conversions, and nationalism, 1468-2013," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 35286, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
    13. Kai Gehring, 2019. "Overcoming History through International Organizations - Historical Roots of EU Support and Euroscepticism," CESifo Working Paper Series 7831, CESifo.
    14. Kai Gehring & Joop Adema & Panu Poutvaara & Joop Age Harm Adema, 2022. "Immigrant Narratives," CESifo Working Paper Series 10026, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    group identity; nation-building; repression; assimilation; regional identity; border regions; Alsace-Lorraine;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • Z19 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Other

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