Familiarity Does Not Breed Contempt Generosity, Discrimination, and Diversity in Delhi Schools

I exploit a natural experiment in Indian schools to study how being integrated with poor students affects the social behaviors and academic outcomes of rich students. Using administrative data, lab and field experiments to measure outcomes, I find that having poor classmates makes rich students (i)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review Vol. 109; no. 3; pp. 774 - 809
Main Author: Rao, Gautam
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Nashville American Economic Association 01.03.2019
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Discrimination
Egalitarianism
Experiments
Familiarity
Prosocial behavior
Social behavior
Social classes
Social factors
Social interaction
Student attitudes
Students
Delhi India
India
ISSN:0002-8282, 1944-7981
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:I exploit a natural experiment in Indian schools to study how being integrated with poor students affects the social behaviors and academic outcomes of rich students. Using administrative data, lab and field experiments to measure outcomes, I find that having poor classmates makes rich students (i) more prosocial, generous, and egalitarian; and (ii) less likely to discriminate against poor students, and more willing to socialize with them. These effects are driven by personal interactions between rich and poor students. In contrast, I find mixed but overall modest impacts on rich students’ academic achievement.
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ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.20180044