How Do We Choose Our Identity? A Revealed Preference Approach Using Food Consumption

David Atkin, Eve Colson-Sihra and Moses Shayo

Journal of Political Economy, 2021, vol. 129, issue 4, 1193 - 1251

Abstract: Are identities fungible? How do people come to identify with specific groups? This paper proposes a revealed preference approach, using food consumption to uncover ethnic and religious identity choices in India. We first show that consumption \of identity goods responds to forces suggested by social identity research: group status and group salience. Moreover, identity choices respond to the cost of following the group’s prescribed behaviors. We propose and estimate a demand system to quantify the identity changes that followed India’s 1991 reforms. While social identity research has focused on status and salience, our results suggest that economic costs also play an important role.

Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (51)

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Working Paper: How Do We Choose Our Identity? A Revealed Preference Approach Using Food Consumption (2019)
Working Paper: How Do We Choose Our Identity? A Revealed Preference Approach Using Food Consumption (2019)
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