This paper investigates the effect of coexistence of different religious groups. Using a unique data set, I estimate the impact of the former Armenian presence in Turkey. Using walking distance to Mt. Ararat, which was the geographical center of the ancient Armenian kingdoms, as an instrument for the spatial distribution of Armenians in 1914, I find that the current residents of districts with a greater historical Armenian presence are more religious, less educated, and poorer today. I propose a mechanism and test for it: the presence of a rival religious group in close proximity increased the identification of Muslims with their in-group identity, Islam, and pious Muslims demanded education less after the secularization of education in the 1920s. Consistent with this mechanism, I find that the current residents of Muslim villages that are closer to former Armenian villages support Islamist parties more, and that the historical Armenian presence has a negative impact on education only for the cohorts that are affected by the secularization reform. Taken together, the results show that coexistence of different religious groups can have a long-term impact through its effect on culture and culture's interaction with formal institutions.
Seyhun Orcan Sakalli is a doctoral candidate in Economics at the Paris School of Economics, and a visiting student researcher at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics. He holds a Master of Public Policy and Development from the Paris School of Economics. He is an applied economist interested in empirical questions in political economy and development economics, and his main teaching interests are empirical methods for policy evaluation, political economy, and development economics. His work aims to understand the roots of group identity formation and its implications. His current research explores how coexistence of different religious groups affect the behavior of group members, under which economic conditions coexistence of different groups might lead to ethno-religious violence, and the impact of post-conflict refugee inflows on regional development.