Denis Ivanov (Free University of Berlin)

Work in progress seminar

Human capital externalities in civic participation

Abstract. Using an online survey of 2107 Moscow residents, we study the effect to which the middle class affects civic and political participation in an authoritarian setting. We measure both individual-level and communitylevel effects, as well as their interaction. Our intuition is as follows: educated and upper-middle-income individuals are more politically and civically active, especially if they are employed in the private sector; at the same time, the presence of such individuals in the neighborhood may create an externality, creating more vibrant local politics and lowering the cost of civic and political participation for both middle class and those outside of it.

Joint with Alexander Libman, Alexei Zakharov