Dr. Hans Dietrich (p), Dr Annie Tubadji

This paper analyses discrimination as a trigger for polarization. We distinguish between economic and social aspects of discrimination as well as between individual and regional level. Specifically, we culturally augment an economics of identity model, by explaining the choice of insider or outsider identity based on discrimination and using this choice as a predictor of individual and local degree of polarization in cultural attitudes. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (IAB- BAMF-SOEP refugee subsample) about Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan and Eretria refugees in 2016-2019, we employ a unique approach to quantifying the polarization of individual attitudes (i.e. the individual polarization). We find consistent evidence that on individual radicalization and polarization seem to be a culturally sensitive effect on individual level in terms of being associated with subjective perception of experienced discrimination. Refugees' subjective experience of being discriminated in the receiving country leads to a negative polarization of the individual values or attitudes regarding democratic institutions and gender norms, but also with respect to happiness. Yet, on the regional level these feelings seem to develop mostly in places that suffer from relative economic deprivation. Finally, a cultural entropy measure for the balance between the traditional and modern attitudes in a place seems to most successfully explain the average levels of polarization of individuals in a locality.

Dr. Yashi Jain (p)

This paper aims to review the cultural reasons behind the different water access across the regions of India using the data from National Family Health Survey for the years 2019-2021 and combining it with the cultural data from the Survey on Literacy and Culture of India for the year 2014. I compiles the dataset that allows me to test the working hypothesis that is in the presence of economic controls. The local cultural capital plays a significant role in explaining which type of water source is predominantly used by households. In order to quantify the local cultural capital, the current study employs the Culture Based Development (CBD) paradigm and obtains the cultural heritage (CH) and living culture (LC) components for every region. In addition, cultural heritage and living culture are next used to calculate the local cultural entropy (CE). The results show that the cultural variables always matter yet using only CH and LC have inconclusive directions, while cultural entropy has a persistent positive association with the use of higher quality of sources of water.

Dr. Annie Tubadji (p)

‘Being kind to strangers for one’s own sake’ is an old CBD contribution, showing the benefits of kindness to strangers for local development. But is this kindness to strangers equitable or economically endogenous – are places less kind to those less privileged and why? Using data on beggars across the states of India, this paper explores the role of local rebalancing of the minds through aesthetic education into cultural heritage and living culture. The Cultural Entropy measure shows how better balance between the two types of aesthetic exposure of the mind associates with a more compassion to poor individuals locality, when controlling for overall wealth and inequality in places. The paper next delves into the association between overall public good provision locally and its equitable accessibility to the poor individuals as conditioned by the local Cultural Entropy.