The first LCSS workshop in Moscow

On March 10, 2011 the HSE Faculty of Sociology hosted the first Laboratory for Comparative Social Studies workshop (LCSS). The report "Nationalism and ethnic discrimination: a review of quantitative research" was made by Alexei Zaharov, LCSS research fellow.

We would remind you that Ronald Inglehart, professor at the Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan (USA), who had won the grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, became the scientific supervisor of the LCSS - world-class research laboratory at the Higher School of Economics.  He engaged in the development and supervision of actual LCSS projects together with his Russian colleagues.

The first LCSS seminar was visited by Eduard Ponarin, the Head of the Laboratory. The seminar was devoted to analytical review of different approaches to studying the causes and nature of discrimination on national or ethnic grounds. Alexei Zaharov presented the report on the results of modern American and French sociologists’ studies on this topic.

The speaker chose special publications for the analysis due to the fact that leading scientists in the U.S. and France have been engaging in research of incidents of racial and ethnic discrimination in their states for many years, and the methodology of their work can be successfully used in Russia. Alexei Zaharov told about the formal game-theoretical models of his foreign colleagues’ studies, the principles of field and experimental work of analyzing the facts of ethnic discrimination in hiring or making deals on rental property.

French sociologists studies indicate that the average earnings of Muslim families are 15% lower than the incomes of indigenous French families. Muslim applicants for a particular position in 2,5 times less likely to receive invitations to interview with employers than the French-Christians. The scientific works of leading American sociologists strongly suggest that applicants looking for work with Christian names - much more successful than those whose names reflect the membership of other ethnic or religious groups. In 2004, the journal «American Economic Review» published a work of famous scientists M. Bertrand and S. Mullatana, which was called - «Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal?» («Who has a better chance of getting a job - Emily and Greg or Lakish and Jamal? ").

Frequent and explicit manifestations of ethnic, religious intolerance and ethnic discrimination in Russia today do not leave any doubt as to the relevance and high demand for these case studies. Eduard Ponarin in his speech said: "Despite the fact that, in general, many studies of nationalism were performed in Russia, very few scientists conduct this work in the economic-rational perspective with the use of experimental methods, preferring quality research and hardly using statistical methods of analysis. In addition, important theoretical improvements came about in the development of this research area. It seems to me that some improvements passed by Russia and remained unnoticed. We want members of our laboratory filled this gap".

Can discrimination be "rational", based on certain signals that the ethnicity indicates of any hidden features? Can we talk about discrimination as a "self-fulfilling expectations"? What factors, including ethnicity, affect the employment chances of members of different national and ethnic groups? For example, do applicants with the names of Andrei and Givi have the equal chances of getting a job or renting an apartment in Moscow? How can we clarify the relationship between ethnicity, contractors and the decisions they make during the economic experiment? How the existence of discrimination can be explained? LCSS staff will attempt to answer on these and other important issues in the process of research, which is planned for this year. 

 

Eduard Ponarin commented upon the basic objectives and development strategy for LCSS:

Important principles of the laboratory are openness and competition. We regularly announce the competitions and scientists from Russia and CIS countries can take part in them. The researchers present their future projects on the material of public data and comparative basis, either cross-country or cross-cultural. Winners have the opportunity to work under the supervision of Prof. Ronald Inglehart as associate laboratory staff, participate in conferences and summer schools of major international research centers. The result of such cooperation should be published in peer-reviewed international journals.

Researchers living and working in Moscow and St. Petersburg have the opportunity to become staff members of the laboratory and do research on the LCSS strategic direction: nationalism, religion, migration and the sociology of health. LCSS announces competitions every 4 months. Employees report back at seminars and conferences in St. Petersburg, because the major branch of the laboratory is situated there. The nearest international seminar will be held in St. Petersburg from 24 to 27 April, 2011.

Professor Ronald Inglehart will annually work in the HSE, St. Petersburg branch, during the fall semester. He also will deal with remote management and supervision of project works during the spring semester.

We plan to recruit foreign scientists in the laboratory and provide funding for projects from various sources. LCSS staff will be gradually expanded. Laboratories workshops will be held every two weeks. We hope shortly to purchase telecommunications equipment for collaborative video seminars between Moscow, St. Petersburg and the University of Michigan.