Adrian Blattner

Graduate Student Research Funding | 2022 - 223 Academic Year

Breaking the Bubble - The Determinants and Effects of Contact

In Brazil, rising levels of affective polarization (partisan animosity) have been associated with recent acts of political violence and partisan discrimination in the labor market. Blattner conducts a field-experiment that connects political opponents for conversations. First, Blattner tests whether contact reduces discrimination and increases demand for follow-up contact. Second, Blattner tests the relevance of several mechanisms and assesses the role of contact intensity. Third, Blattner examines which factors determine partisans' demand for contact. Finally, the project uses the empirical results to inform a model about demand for outgroup exposure to inform future policies targeted at reducing discrimination in labor markets.

Adrian Blatter, Department of Economics

Adrian Blattner is a PhD candidate in economics at Stanford. Blattner's research incorporates experimental and econometric methods to study political polarization, gender inequality, and inequities in access to secondary education. Blattner is a Stanford Knight-Hennessy Scholar and recipient of the ERP Fellowship by the German Ministry of Economic Affairs. 

Prior to Stanford, Blattner was a lead research analyst at the World Bank and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Blattner holds an MA in economics from Stanford and a BSc in politics and economics from the University of Potsdam, Germany.

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