| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Trial Title | Before Can work contact improve social cohesion between refugees and locals? Evidence from an experiment in Uganda | After Contact in the Workplace and Social Cohesion: Experimental Evidence from Uganda |
| Field Abstract | Before Social cohesion drives trust among community members and as such is key to economic development. A high influx of refugees might disrupt the links that social cohesion creates, as the arrival of foreigners may change social relations in the society. Therefore, how to construct social cohesion in refugee-receiving countries is both desirable and necessary for policy. We conduct a randomized control trial targeting refugee job seekers and local workers at firms managed by natives in Uganda. Drawing on insights from across the social sciences, we measure social cohesion through a compound measure incorporating attitudes, implicit and explicit biases, and behaviors in real and hypothetical activities. Does contact, through direct and indirect exposure in the workplace, promote social cohesion between refugees and natives? We find that while implicit bias increases, explicit bias decreases for both groups, and behaviors towards the out-group are positive for both groups but differ slightly: natives want to have more refugee business partners, while refugees want to work more for Ugandan firms. | After Social cohesion is a driver of trust among members of the same community and, consequently, it is key to local economic development. A high influx of outsiders, such as refugees, might disrupt this cohesion, as the arrival of foreigners may change social relations. Therefore, how to construct social cohesion in refugee-host countries is both desirable and necessary for policy. We conduct a randomized control trial with refugee job seekers and native workers in locally owned and managed firms in Uganda. We measure social cohesion through a compound measure incorporating attitudes, implicit and explicit biases, and behaviors in real and hypothetical activities. Does intergroup contact in the workplace promote social cohesion between people from two different communities? Our sets of findings are two. First, explicit bias decreases for both groups, while implicit bias increases only for native workers. Second, both groups of workers improve their behaviors towards the opposite group, but in a slightly different way: While local workers want to have more refugee business partners, refugee workers want to be more employed by Ugandan firms. These findings underscore the role of workplace-based contact in developing social cohesion by reducing explicit biases and increasing positive behaviors among people from different communities. |
| Field Last Published | Before November 06, 2023 10:05 AM | After July 23, 2025 11:42 AM |
| Field Study Withdrawn | Before | After No |
| Field Intervention Completion Date | Before | After October 31, 2021 |
| Field Data Collection Complete | Before | After Yes |
| Field Was attrition correlated with treatment status? | Before | After No |
| Field Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations | Before | After 273 local workers and 377 refugees |
| Field Is there a restricted access data set available on request? | Before | After No |
| Field Program Files | Before | After No |
| Field Data Collection Completion Date | Before | After August 06, 2022 |
| Field Is data available for public use? | Before | After No |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Paper Abstract | Before | After Social cohesion is a driver of trust among members of the same community and consequently it is key to local economic development. A high influx of outsiders such as refugees might disrupt this cohesion, as the arrival of foreigners may change social relations. Therefore, how to construct social cohesion in refugee-host countries is both desirable and necessary for policy. We conduct a randomized control trial with refugee job seekers and native workers in locally owned and managed firms in Uganda. We measure social cohesion through a compound measure incorporating attitudes, implicit and explicit biases, and behaviors in real and hypothetical activities. Does inter-group contact in the workplace promote social cohesion between people from two different communities? Our sets of findings are two. First, explicit bias decreases for both groups, while implicit bias increases only for native workers. Second, both groups of workers improve their behaviors towards the opposite group, but in a slightly different way: while local workers want to have more refugee business partners, refugee workers want to be more employed by Ugandan firms. These findings underscore the role of workplace-based contact in developing social cohesion by reducing explicit biases and increasing positive behaviors among people from different communities. |
| Field Paper Citation | Before | After Silva-Vargas, M. & Loiacono, F. 2024. Contact in the Workplace and Social Cohesion: Experimental Evidence from Uganda |
| Field Paper URL | Before | After https://files.cargocollective.com/c419606/SilvaVargas_Loiacono_SocialCohesion.pdf |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Description | Before | After Working Paper |
| Field File | Before | After |