When the Sorting Hat Sorts Randomly: A Natural Experiment on Culture

* We thank participants at various seminars at Princeton University, the Berlin Social Science Research Center (WZB), Columbia University, the CAPERS at NYU, the Harvard Experiments Working Group, the Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society, the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture, the American Political Science Association and the Midwest Political Science Association for useful comments. More colleagues than we can list here provided generous advice and feedback. They include Bernd Beber, Torben Behmer, Roland Benabou, Carles Boix, Paul DiMaggio, Ruth Ditlmann, Guy Grossman, Anselm Hager, Johannes Haushofer, Raymond Hicks, Kimuli Kasara, Joshua Kertzer, Erik Kimbrough, Elisabeth King, David Laitin, Gwyneth McClendon, Brandon Miller de la Cuesta, Salma Moussa, Cyrus Samii, Alex Scacco, Eldar Shafir, Adam Slez, Dan Smith, Manuela Travaglianti, Leonard Wantchekon, and Shana Warren. We are indebted to Samuel Ouma for the conversation that led to this project, and to Edwin Mayoki and Catherine Tabingwa for co-leading the research team in Uganda and being engaged in the project since day one. We are very grateful to the faculty, staff, and student leadership of Makerere University for their time and support, including Professors Barnabas Nawangwe and Ernest Okello Ogwang, Dean Cyriaco Kabagambe, Deputy Dean Stephen Kateega, Edward Lukabala, and former Guild President Ivan Bwowe. The team at Innovations for Poverty Action in Uganda conducted the alumni survey and was expertly led by Vianney Mbonigaba, Antoine Guilhin, and Kepher Tugezeku. Finally, we acknowledge the generous financial support from the Mamdouha Bobst Center for Peace and Justice, the Fund for Experimental Social Sciences, and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.