Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Department of Economics
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This dissertation consists of two studies on the economics of culture. In Chapter 2, I study the impact of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 on in-group bias. In the study, in-group bias is defined as the difference between trust placed in the in-group (e.g., family, friends) and the out-group (e.g., foreigners). Using a difference-in-differences approach, the findings indicate that the crisis led to an increase in in-group bias. This result is driven by a decrease in out-group trust during the crisis, while in-group trust remained unchanged. Particularly, the crisis caused a decline in trust toward people met for the first time, and people of other religions and nationalities. The effects are driven by individuals with low and middle perceived income levels. In addition, the study shows that the crisis also decreased trust in key institutions, including the government, parliament, police, and political parties. In Chapter 3, I study the impact of a massive refugee shock on attitudes toward domestic violence. Since the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey has become the host of the world’s largest refugee population. The number of Syrian refugees has grown to around 3.7 million by the end of 2021, representing nearly a 5% increase in the country's population. Leveraging this significant demographic shift, I investigate the impact of refugee inflows on natives’ attitudes toward domestic violence against women. I utilize data on the annual number of Syrian refugees in Turkish provinces, and two rounds of the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted before and six years after the refugee influx began. To address potential endogeneity of refugees’ location choices, I employ an instrumental variable strategy. The results show that a higher refugee intensity at the province level leads to a decrease in native women’s approval of wife beating. The results are driven by ethnic Turkish women with lower levels of education. Evidence using an alternative sample of provinces and a difference-in-differences analysis confirms this finding and further indicates that the refugee influx led to an increase in ethnic Kurdish women’s approval of domestic violence.
Date
3-24-2026
Recommended Citation
Orak, Nur, "Essays on the Economics of Culture" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 7009.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/7009
Committee Chair
Mocan, Naci
LSU Acknowledgement
1
LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment
1