Married to Intolerance: Attitudes toward Intermarriage in Germany, 1900–2006

Nico Voigtländer; Hans-Joachim Voth

doi:10.1257/aer.103.3.79

American Economic Review Vol. 103 No. 3 2013

Married to Intolerance: Attitudes toward Intermarriage in Germany, 1900–2006

Nico Voigtländer¹; Hans-Joachim Voth²

¹ University of California-Los Angeles, 110 Westwood Plaza, C-511, Los Angeles, CA 90095. · ² ICREA Research Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Economics Department, UPF and CREI, Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27 08005 Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

We analyze under what conditions intermarriage can be used as an indicator of tolerance, and whether such tolerant attitudes persisted in Germany during the twentieth century. We find strong evidence for the persistence of tolerant attitudes towards intermarriage with Jews. At the same time, our empirical analysis also cautions against using intermarriage as a simple proxy for tolerance: The size of Jewish communities in the early twentieth century is an important confounding factor.

DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.79
Volume: 103
Issue: 3
Pages: 79-85
Language: en
Sources: bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Married to Intolerance: Attitudes toward Intermarriage in Germany, 1900–2006

Abstract

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