This study considers how ethnic trust and minority status can impact the ability of ethnic groups to pursue cooperative public goods, focusing on groups with a history of conflict and lingering hostility. A public good experiment between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in postwar Kosovo reveals that subjects contribute far more to a mutually beneficial public good when they are part of an experimentally induced coethnic majority. However, when in the minority, subjects not only underinvest, but many actively divest entirely, privatizing the public good. Majority/minority status also has wide-ranging implications for how individuals relate to real-world public goods and the institutions of government that provide them. Compared to majority Albanians, survey data indicate how minority Serbs in Kosovo express greater safety and security concerns, feel more politically, socially, and economically excluded, are more dissatisfied with civil liberties and human rights protections, and are less likely to participate politically or pay taxes to support public goods. Conflict-related victimization and distrust of out-groups are strong predictors of these minority group attitudes and behaviors. This suggests a mechanism for how conflict amplifies out-group distrust, increasing parochial bias in public good commitments, especially among minorities who are wary of exploitation at the hands of an out-group majority. To restore trust, this study finds that institutional trust and intergroup contact are important to bridging ethnic divides that inhibit public good cooperation.

这项研究考虑到种族冲突和缠绵的敌对情绪，对种族信任和少数群体地位如何影响种族群体追求合作性公共物品的能力产生了影响。战后科索沃的阿尔巴尼亚族和塞族人之间的公共物品实验表明，当受试者成为实验性种族多数的一部分时，他们对互利的公共物品的贡献更大。但是，在少数群体中，主体不仅投资不足，而且许多主体积极地全部出售，从而将公共物品私有化。多数/少数派地位也对个人如何与现实世界的公共物品以及提供这些物品的政府机构有联系。与多数阿尔巴尼亚人相比，调查数据表明，科索沃的少数族裔塞族人如何表达出更大的安全和保障关切，感到在政治，社会和经济上被排斥在外，对公民自由和人权保护更加不满，并且不太可能参与政治或纳税以支持公共物品。与冲突相关的受害和外部群体的不信任是这些少数群体的态度和行为的有力预测因素。这表明了一种冲突机制如何扩大群体间的不信任，增加公共利益承诺中的狭bias偏见，尤其是在那些对群体外多数人持谨慎态度的少数群体中尤其如此。为了恢复信任，本研究发现机构信任和群体间联系对于弥合阻碍公共利益合作的族裔鸿沟非常重要。并且不太可能参加政治活动或纳税以支持公共物品。与冲突相关的受害和外部群体的不信任是这些少数群体的态度和行为的有力预测因素。这表明了一种冲突机制如何扩大群体间的不信任，增加公共利益承诺中的狭bias偏见，尤其是在那些对群体外多数人持谨慎态度的少数群体中尤其如此。为了恢复信任，本研究发现机构信任和群体间联系对于弥合阻碍公共利益合作的种族鸿沟非常重要。并且不太可能参加政治活动或纳税以支持公共物品。与冲突相关的受害和外部群体的不信任是这些少数群体的态度和行为的有力预测因素。这表明了一种冲突机制如何扩大群体间的不信任，增加公共利益承诺中的狭bias偏见，尤其是在那些对群体外多数人持谨慎态度的少数群体中尤其如此。为了恢复信任，本研究发现机构信任和群体间联系对于弥合阻碍公共利益合作的族裔鸿沟非常重要。这表明了一种冲突机制如何扩大群体间的不信任，增加公共利益承诺中的狭bias偏见，尤其是在那些对群体外多数人持谨慎态度的少数群体中尤其如此。为了恢复信任，本研究发现机构信任和群体间联系对于弥合阻碍公共利益合作的族裔鸿沟非常重要。这表明了一种冲突机制如何扩大群体间的不信任，增加公共利益承诺中的狭bias偏见，尤其是在那些对群体外多数人持谨慎态度的少数群体中尤其如此。为了恢复信任，本研究发现机构信任和群体间联系对于弥合阻碍公共利益合作的族裔鸿沟非常重要。