Citation

Birkelund GE, Chan TW, Ugreninov E, Midtbøen AH, Rogstad J. Br. J. Sociol. 2019; 70(1): 241-260.

Affiliation

Institute for Labour and Social Research, Oslo.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, London School of Economics and Political Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1468-4446.12344

PMID

29363115

Abstract

Terrorist attacks are known to influence public opinion. But do they also change behaviour? We address this question by comparing the results of two identical randomized field experiments on ethnic discrimination in hiring that we conducted in Oslo. The first experiment was conducted before the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway; the second experiment was conducted after the attacks. In both experiments, applicants with a typical Pakistani name were significantly less likely to get a job interview compared to those with a typical Norwegian name. But the ethnic gap in call-back rates were very similar in the two experiments. Thus, Pakistanis in Norway still experienced the same level of discrimination, despite claims that Norwegians have become more positive about migrants after the far-right, anti-migrant terrorist attacks of 2011.

© London School of Economics and Political Science 2018.

Language: en

Keywords

Terrorist attack; ethnic discrimination; field experiment