Caceres Delpiano, JulioDe Moragas, Antoni ItaloFacchini, GabrielGonzález, IgnacioUniversidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía2020-11-302020-11-302020-11-302340-5031https://hdl.handle.net/10016/31507We study the long-term effects of intergroup contact on nation building by exploiting a national lottery that randomly allocated conscripts to different military areas across Spain. For men born in regions featuring a strong regional identity, we find that being assigned to military service in a region different from one's region of birth substantially increases self-identification as Spanish and reduces the likelihood of voting for a regionalist party. Moreover, in support of intergroup contact as the main mechanism behind these results, we find that movers are more likely to have friends from another region than nonmoversengAtribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 EspañaNation BuildingIntergroup ContactMilitary Serviceworking paperD02D71J15DT/0000001854