Social Exclusion and Social Preferences: Evidence from Colombia's Leper Colony
American Economic Review · 2023 · Volume 113 · Issue 5
Abstract
This paper explores the intergenerational consequences of social exclusion on prosociality. A lab-in-the-field approach in the historical region of Colombia's leper colony reveals that descendants of socially excluded individuals are locally altruistic and extend such altruism to outsiders who have undergone similar circumstances. These individuals also display mistrust toward those who have, historically, been exclusionary—in this case, doctors. The content of historical narratives shared by ancestors who were excluded, which emphasize the endured mistreatment and doctors' historical misinformation, is one mechanism that partially explains the intergenerational patterns.
Keywords
Altruism, Philanthropy, Intergenerational Transfers, National Government Expenditures and Health, Health Behavior, Health: Government Policy, Regulation, Public Health, Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Latin America, Caribbean, Regional and Urban History: Latin America, Economic Sociology, Economic Anthropology, Language, Social and Economic Stratification
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