Ozan Aksoy (University College London)

“Some causes and consequences of Turkey’s political Islam: three natural experiments”

Abstract: The seminar is based on the results of three natural experiments from Turkey: a Regression Discontinuity Design on the 2004 mayoral elections, the sex of the first child of a woman, and the cyclical changes in the strictness of Ramadan fasting. Through these natural experiments, I discuss how Turkey’s political Islam affects demographic behaviour and the prevalence of the headscarf, why mothers of boys may be more likely to wear the headscarf than mothers of girls, and how the vote share of Islamist political parties is affected by Ramadan fasting.