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The Roots of Ethnic Diversity

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Author Info
Ahlerup, Pelle () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)
Olsson, Ola () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

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Abstract

The level of ethnic diversity is believed to have significant consequences for economic and political development within countries. In this article, we provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of the determinants of ethnic diversity in the world. We introduce a model of cultural and ge- netic drift where new ethnic groups endogenously emerge among periph- eral populations as a response to an insufficient supply of public goods. In line with our model, we find that the duration of human settlements has a strong positive association with ethnic diversity. Ethnic diversity decreases with the length of modern state experience and with distance from the equator. Both "primordial" and "constructivist" hypotheses of ethnic fractionalization thus receive some support by our analysis.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/8482
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Göteborg University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number 281.

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Length: 49 pages
Date of creation: 14 Dec 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0281

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Postal: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Phone: 031-773 10 00
Web page: http://www.handels.gu.se/econ/
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Related research
Keywords: ethnicity; ethnic diversity; human origins;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative
N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative
P33 - Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - International Linkages

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  1. Michalopoulos, Stelios, 2008. "The Origins of Ethnolinguistic Diversity: Theory and Evidence," MPRA Paper 11531, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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