Covid-19 Crisis Fuels Hostility against Foreigners

Michal Bauer, Julie Chytilová (), BartoÅ¡, VojtÄ›ch and Cahlíková, Jana
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Vojtěch Bartoš

No 14821, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Aggressive behavior against out-group members often rises during periods of economic hardship and health pandemics. Here, we test the widespread concern that the Covid-19 crisis may fuel hostility against people from other nations or ethnic minorities. Using a controlled money-burning task, we elicited hostile behavior among a nationally representative sample (n=2,186) in the Czech Republic, at a time when the entire population was under lockdown. We provide causal evidence that exogenously elevating salience of the Covid-19 crisis magnifies hostility against foreigners. This behavioral response is similar across various demographic sub-groups. The results underscore the importance of not inflaming anti-foreigner sentiments and suggest that efforts to restore international trade and cooperation will need to address both social and economic damage.

Keywords: Covid-19; Health and economic crisis; Hostility; Inter-group conflict; Discrimination; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 D01 D63 D91 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP14821 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: Covid-19 Crisis Fuels Hostility against Foreigners (2020)
Working Paper: COVID-19 Crisis Fuels Hostility against Foreigners (2020)
Working Paper: Covid-19 Crisis Fuels Hostility against Foreigners (2020)
Working Paper: Covid-19 Crisis Fuels Hostility against Foreigners (2020)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14821

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP14821

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().