Impact de la fragmentation sociale sur la production de biens publics : polarisation et patronage en Uttar Pradesh et au Bihar, Inde

Theoretical works have brought out the negative relationship between social fragmentation and the provision of public goods. Results from empirical research seem less certain. In this article, we explore a possibility that has often been neglected by the literature: the presence of ethnic patronage in accessing public goods. Our results somewhat show that if fragmentation is to have an impact, it is mainly positive. On the other hand, polarization has no effect which contravenes the assumption that underlies the literature according to which social fragmentation induces antagonisms that, in turn, impair the production of public goods. Lastly, we explore whether belonging to the dominant caste in the village does influence the probability for a household to access public goods. The results from this analysis provide some support to the patronage hypothesis.