The Temporal Dynamics of Regional Racial Prejudice and Economic Development: Toward an Integration of Social Psychology and Regional Economics
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2026-05-27
Author(s)
Abstract
The average level of people’s racial prejudice differs substantially across regions and has important societal consequences. While prior research has mainly explained these regional differences through structural factors, recent evidence suggests that this regional racial prejudice can also fluctuate over shorter periods of time. In this talk, we examine one potential driver of these dynamics: regional economic development. Using data from more than 1.6 million participants from Project Implicit and economic indicators from 207 U.S. metropolitan areas between 2010 and 2019, we investigate how economic conditions and racial prejudice shape one another over time. Applying Panel Vector Autoregression modeling, we find a reciprocal relationship: poor economic performance predicts subsequent higher levels of regional racial prejudice, while higher levels of regional racial prejudice predict subsequent poor economic performance. Additional analyses provide stronger support for group-threat theory-based explanations than for attribution-bias based accounts. Overall, the talk highlights the value of integrating psychological theory with methods from regional economics to better understand the dynamics of regional prejudice.
Language
English
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
No
Event Title
Guest Talk
Event Location
King's College London
Event Date
27.05.2026
Subject(s)
Division(s)