Leonardo Bursztyn (UCLA) will present:
"Identifying Ideology: Experimental Evidence on Anti-Americanism in Pakistan"
at 3pm on Wednesday, May 6, 2015. Room TBD

Please sign up for a meeting, lunch, or dinner at:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/157iORi0Bf9dS6yQfGfbzgMRnkOjYQKruUDIgBWN7FPA/edit?usp=sharing

Abstract

Identifying the role of intrinsic, ideological motivation in political behavior is confounded by agents' consequential aims and social concerns. We present an experimental methodology isolating Pakistani men's intrinsic motives for expressing anti-American ideology in a context with clearly-specified financial costs, but negligible other consequential or social considerations. Following a survey, we offer subjects a bonus payment. One-quarter of subjects forgo around one-fifth of a day's wage to avoid anonymously checking a box indicating gratitude toward the U.S. government, revealing anti-Americanism. We find that even extremists moderate their political expression when the financial cost is high and when anticipating public expression.