Identity Economics and the Russian-Ukrainian War: Evidence from the American Community Survey

Update 4/19/2024: The manuscript is available for download here.

Abstract:

Did the Russian invasion of Ukraine cause changes in ethnic identity and language preferences among those living in the United States? We document a 26.1 percent increase from 2021 to 2022 in the count of U.S. born respondents who identify as ethnic Ukrainian. The count of U.S.-born respondents identifying as ethnic Russian fell 10.6 percent. The changes are larger in counties that were Democratic-leaning in the 2020 election. We observe changes in language preferences, from Russian to Ukrainian among Ukrainian immigrants, and from Russian to English among Russian immigrants.