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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2016
  5. Identity-Based Organizations

Identity-Based Organizations

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Abstract

A single club model describes the collective production of both personal and social identity. Personal identity, how one perceives oneself, is formed through a process of cultural transmission. Social identity, how one is perceived by others, takes the form of collective reputation. Our model of identity-based organizations incorporates into the economics of identity insights from the economics of religion and cultural transmission. The identities that develop tend to be oppositional. Organizations devoted to more extreme identities are able to support higher levels of participation and collective action.

Citation

Carvalho, Jean-Paul. 2016. "Identity-Based Organizations." American Economic Review, 106 (5): 410-14. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161039

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D11 Consumer Economics: Theory
  • D23 Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
  • D71 Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification