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Citizen Attitudes Toward Traditional and State Authorities: Substitutes or Complements?
With Peter van der Windt, Macartan Humphreys, Jeffrey Timmons, and Marteen Voors.
Do citizens view state and traditional authorities as substitutes or complements? Past work has been divided on this question. Some scholars point to competition between attitudes toward these entities, suggesting substitution, whereas others highlight positive correlations, suggesting complementarity. Addressing this question, however, is difficult, as it requires assessing the effects of exogenous changes in the latent valuation of one authority on an individual’s support for another. We show that this quantity—a type of elasticity—cannot be inferred from correlations between support for the two forms of authority. We employ a structural model to estimate this elasticity of substitution using data from 816 villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo and plausibly exogenous rainfall and conflict shocks. Despite prima facie evidence for substitution logics, our model’s outcomes are consistent with complementarity; positive changes in citizen valuation of the chief appear to translate into positive changes in support for the government.
The Mindful Path to Integration? Experimental Evidence from Refugee Women in Berlin
with Clara Bicalho, Julia Roseman and Alexandra Scacco
To what extent better (poorer) mental health of refugees women can facilitate (hinder) their integration into their host society and how their mental health condition interacts wih other dimensions of their lives. (Ongoing research)
A Guideline of Transformations in Linear and Linear Mixed Regression Models
with Natalia Rojas-Perilla and Ann-Kristin Kreutzmann
Linear and linear mixed models typically rely on the fulfillment of a set of conditions which are not always met by empirical data. Transformations attempt to correct violations of the assumptions underlying these models. In particular, non-normality, heteroscedasticity and non-linearity. In this work, we do an extensive overview the current state of the literature, propose a guideline for the use of transformations and put our guideline to test with data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey. (Ongoing reserach)