The terror attacks of 2015 in Paris and their effect on Perceived Discrimination : The Swedish experience

Abstract: Using a quasi-experimental approach, this study analyses the effects of a specific exogenous shock on ethnic discrimination in Sweden by treating the terror attacks of 2015 in Paris as a natural experiment. Our research is based on cross-sectional survey data published by the European Social Survey (ESS). Slightly deviating from the traditional analytical approach, we observe individuals’ perception of being discriminated against rather than factual discrimination, thus contributing by analysing a common topic from a different perspective. We find that immigrants generally have a higher probability of perceiving themselves as discriminated against compared to natives. Subsequently, the probability increases further for Middle Eastern immigrants, females and for those who have experienced unemployment for at least three months.  When implementing a Difference-in-Difference method we find that average differences in perceived discrimination between immigrants and natives, but also between males and females, had increased after the terror attacks in Paris. Contrary to our expectations, our results indicate that Middle Eastern immigrants did not feel more discriminated after the terror attacks. However, the perception of being discriminated against is indicated to have increased for men. Nonetheless, in absence of statistically significant treatment effects we cannot conclude a relationship between the changes in average differences and the exogenous shock, suggesting that that the changes might be attributed to other factors.