2021
Working Paper
HBS Working Paper Series

Changing In-group Boundaries: The Effect of Immigration on Race Relations in the U.S.

By: Vasiliki Fouka and Marco Tabellini

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:94

Abstract

How do social group boundaries evolve? Does the appearance of a new outgroup change the ingroup’s perceptions of other outgroups? We introduce a conceptual framework of context-dependent categorization, in which exposure to one minority leads to recategorization of other minorities as in- or outgroups depending on perceived distances across groups. We test this framework by studying how Mexican immigration to the U.S. affected White Americans’ attitudes and behaviors towards Black Americans. We combine survey and crime data with a difference-in-differences design and an instrumental variables strategy. Consistent with the theory, Mexican immigration improves Whites’ racial attitudes, increases support for pro-Black government policies and lowers anti-Black hate crimes, while simultaneously increasing prejudice against Hispanics. Results generalize beyond Hispanics and Blacks and a survey experiment provides direct evidence for recategorization. Our findings imply that changes in the size of one group can affect the entire web of inter-group relations in diverse societies.

Keywords

In-group-out-group Relations; Immigration; Race; Attitudes; Boundaries; Prejudice and Bias

Citation

Fouka, Vasiliki, and Marco Tabellini. "Changing In-group Boundaries: The Effect of Immigration on Race Relations in the U.S." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-100, March 2020. (Revise and resubmit at American Political Science Review. Revised April 2021.)