Harsh Rhetoric and Cultural Identity: Backlash Effects of Denmark’s Ghetto List
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Series
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Speaker(s)Linea Hasager (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
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FieldEmpirical Microeconomics
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LocationTinbergen Institute, Roeterseiland campus, E5.22
Amsterdam -
Date and time
April 07, 2026
16:00 - 17:00
Abstract
We study how the cultural identity of non-Western residents responds to the official labeling of their neighborhoods as "Ghettos" and accompanying political rhetoric emphasizing cultural difference. Using a Regression Discontinuity design, we find that non-Western residents in listed neighborhoods become more likely to give their children foreign-sounding names. This shift was accompanied by lower enrollment in early childcare, more traditional gender attitudes, stronger self-identification as an immigrant or member of a religious group, and lower propensity to follow Danish news. Socioeconomic integration was unaffected, and residential composition did not change, suggesting that the policy's stigmatizing nature and public discourse catalyzed the observed cultural backlash.