Ethnic Mixing in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment and a Structural Mode

In the model, children choose a level of socialization effort, which then determines the probability of forming links with other children.6 The choice is influenced by a desire to conform to the average socialization behavior of the class (social norm)7 without strategically anticipating the impact of socialization on the formation of the friendship network. [...] The fact that contact happens between refugee and native children of age 5 is interesting in its own right given the large wave of forced displacement experienced worldwide in recent years.11 Beyond the reduced-form evidence, we also examine the impact of contact on the structure of the friendship networks through the lens of a theoretical model, and with the aid of structural estimation and count. [...] The Turkish language skills of the refugee children were assessed by the teachers at the beginning and end of the program. [...] The dependent variable is the number of Turkish children (col 1-3) and the share of Turkish children (col 4-6) in the student’s friendship network in the endline of the Summer Camp. [...] The dependent variable is the number of Syrian children (col 1-3) and the share of Syrian children (col 4-6) in the student’s friendship network in the endline of the Summer Camp.