Stereotypes and Madrassas: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan

57 Pages Posted: 7 Jul 2011 Last revised: 3 Feb 2013

See all articles by Adeline Delavande

Adeline Delavande

Nova School of Business and Economics

Basit Zafar

Arizona State University

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 2012

Abstract

Little is known about the behavior of Madrassa (Islamic religious seminaries) students, how Madrassas shape their behavior, and how other groups in their communities interact with them. To investigate this, we use experimental data that we collected from students pursuing bachelors-equivalent degrees in Madrassas and other educational institutions of distinct religious tendencies and socioeconomic background in Pakistan. First, we find that Madrassa students are the most trusting, exhibit the highest level of other-regarding behavior, and expect others to be the most trustworthy. Second, there is a high level of trust among all groups. Third, within each institution group, we fail to find evidence of in-group bias or systematic out-group bias either in trust or tastes. Fourth, we find that students from certain backgrounds under-estimate the trustworthiness of Madrassa students.

Keywords: trust, group identity, religious seminaries, unconditional other-regarding behavior, expectations

JEL Classification: C90, C70, Z12

Suggested Citation

Delavande, Adeline and Zafar, Basit, Stereotypes and Madrassas: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan (October 2012). FRB of New York Staff Report No. 501, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1879978 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1879978

Adeline Delavande

Nova School of Business and Economics ( email )

Campus de Carcavelos
Rua da Holanda, 1
Carcavelos, 2775-405
Portugal
+35 1 21 380 16 00 (Phone)
+35 1 21 387 09 33 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://docentes.fe.unl.pt/~adeline/page2.html

Basit Zafar (Contact Author)

Arizona State University ( email )

WP Carey School of Business, ASU
Tempe, AZ 85287
United States
9179326564 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/basitakzafar/

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