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[Accepting]
Professor Yuki Higuchi (Sophia University): Gaming for Cohesion: A Study on Integrating Refugees Through Virtual Intergroup Contact
This paper investigates the effects of intergroup contact in a virtual environment on social cohesion between ingroups and outgroups. By leveraging a virtual setting and using computer bots, we provide causal evidence on the heterogeneous effects of intergroup contact based on perceived outgroup performance levels. Developing an original gaming application, we conducted a nationwide pre-registered randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh, where Bangladeshi participants interacted virtually with Rohingya. We found that virtual interactions with Rohingya of similar or lower performance fostered...
APL
Event Date：2025.09.04
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[Accepting]
Professor Jun Goto (GRIPS): Judicial Independence and Economic Development: Evidence from the Constitutional Reinterpretation in India
This paper investigates the causal impact of establishing judicial independence on economic development. We exploit a natural experiment arising from the 1993 “Second Judges Case” in India, in which the Supreme Court reinterpreted the constitution to eliminate direct political influence over judicial appointments. Under the new system, judges themselves began selecting High Court appointees, a peer-selection rule that applied to all appointments after 1993. Employing a difference-in-differences approach, we leverage variation introduced by the mandatory retirement age for High Court judges: ne...
APL
Event Date：2025.07.31
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[Accepting] Professor Yuki Higuchi (Sophia University): Gaming for Cohesion: A Study on Integrating Refugees Through Virtual Intergroup Contact This paper investigates the effects of intergroup contact in a virtual environment on social cohesion between ingroups and outgroups. By leveraging a virtual setting and using computer bots, we provide causal evidence on the heterogeneous effects of intergroup contact based on perceived outgroup performance levels. Developing an original gaming application, we conducted a nationwide pre-registered randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh, where Bangladeshi participants interacted virtually with Rohingya. We found that virtual interactions with Rohingya of similar or lower performance fostered... APL Event Date：2025.09.04