Language, identity and preferences: the case of rural-urban migration in Uganda.

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The desire to understand the determinants of human behaviour is the goal of several disciplines. Research into economic preferences, such as cooperation, reciprocity and trust,has enhanced our understanding of what drives individuals to make certain choices. Theutility an individual derives from cooperating is not solely contingent on factors like wealthor education, but also their cultural identity and the social pressures they face. Growingevidence suggests that preferences, at least in part, may be reliant on contextual orenvironmental factors, as well as the actions of others. I intend to use rural to urbanmigration, a key trend in the developing world, as lens through which the interactionbetween context, identity and preferences can be explored."Language is the repository of the history of a people. It is their identity." Crystal (1997, p.20).Recent projects have identified significant international heterogeneity in preferences,begging the question what determines these differences. Language has emerged as animportant factor, with the most recent research making use of lab-in-the-field experimentswith bilinguals. While studies have found language can affect behaviour, the underlyingmechanism remains unexplored. Social and cultural factors, such as norms or expectations,may be driving these differences. Equally, language may act to 'prime' individuals, making anidentity category more salient, thereby activating different sets of internalised preferences.Firstly, I seek to replicate existing findings concerning cooperative behaviour by means of apre-registered study. Prior research has found a significant language effect, leading to a 30%difference in cooperation levels. As part of this, I will investigate the underlying mechanism,exploring norms, expectations and internalised preferences, both jointly and individually.Secondly, I intend to explore identity in the context of rural-urban migration in Sub-SaharanAfrica. For the first time in history, the majority of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa nowreside in urban areas. A key driver of increased urbanisation has been rural to urbanmigration. Unlike international migration, national migrants maintain 'links' with theircommunities of origin, presenting a unique opportunity to explore the context-dependency ofpreferences. Here an individual may develop and maintain multiple identities, therebyexhibiting different behavioural choices, simply because of context ('place'). I will explorewhether norms and expectations differ by place and thereby understand the mechanismbehind why contextual factors matter.Lastly, again in the setting of rural-urban migration, if norms and expectations differ byplace, I will investigate whether increased time within a culture (exposure) constitutes'learning' about norms and expectations. Further, I will explore whether reduced exposure toa community of origin manifests as 'unlearning', or whether migrants simply maintain dualidentities and understanding. This is has not been explored by the literature to date.I am a second year part-time PhD student, required to complete my PhD by September 2025.Due to time limits placed on funding from CBESS at UEA, I have already completed field workand have data to support at least two high quality publications. A draft of the first of thesepapers was submitted and accepted for the CSAE 2020 conference. I am applying to SeNSS atthis point to enable me to spend significantly more time producing publications andpotentially conducting more field work. My long-term goal is to enter academia on a full-timebasis. Further, part-time study restricts my ability to attend conferences and become a moreactive member of the research community.