IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v60y2016i5p927-955.html

Segregation, Polarization, and Ethnic Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Marko KlaÅ¡nja
  • Natalija Novta

Abstract

An index of ethnic segregation conveys the extent of spatial mixing of ethnic groups, whereas an index of ethnic polarization and similar diversity measures show the overall balance between the groups. We present a game-theoretic model of conflict in which local success of one ethnic group encourages attacks by its co-ethnics in neighboring areas. Conditional on conflict breaking out, we find that for highly ethnically polarized societies, increasing ethnic segregation decreases the incidence and intensity of conflict. In contrast, in societies with low ethnic polarization, increasing segregation increases conflict. This is because segregation and polarization jointly determine the spread of conflict, an important channel that has been neglected previously. We find strong empirical support for model predictions in two very different conflicts: Hindu–Muslim riots in the 1980s and 1990s in India and the Bosnian Civil War from 1992 to 1995.

Suggested Citation

  • Marko KlaÅ¡nja & Natalija Novta, 2016. "Segregation, Polarization, and Ethnic Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 60(5), pages 927-955, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:60:y:2016:i:5:p:927-955
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002714550084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002714550084
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002714550084?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bandiera, Oriana & Levy, Gilat, 2011. "Diversity and the power of the elites in democratic societies: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1322-1330.
    2. Edward Miguel & Shanker Satyanath & Ernest Sergenti, 2004. "Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(4), pages 725-753, August.
    3. Borjas, George J., 1998. "To Ghetto or Not to Ghetto: Ethnicity and Residential Segregation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 228-253, September.
    4. Brancati, Dawn, 2006. "Decentralization: Fueling the Fire or Dampening the Flames of Ethnic Conflict and Secessionism?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 651-685, July.
    5. Erica Field & Matthew Levinson & Rohini Pande & Sujata Visaria, 2008. "Segregation, Rent Control, and Riots: The Economics of Religious Conflict in an Indian City," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 505-510, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roberto Ezcurra & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Does ethnic segregation matter for spatial inequality?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1149-1178.
    2. Nathan M. Jensen & Daniel J. Young, 2008. "A Violent Future? Political Risk Insurance Markets and Violence Forecasts," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 52(4), pages 527-547, August.
    3. Migheli, Matteo, 2009. "Religiosity and happiness: an ever-winning couple? An answer from India," POLIS Working Papers 126, Institute of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS.
    4. Anirban Mitra & Debraj Ray, 2014. "Implications of an Economic Theory of Conflict: Hindu-Muslim Violence in India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(4), pages 719-765.
    5. CASTANEDA DOWER, Paul & GINSBURGH, Victor & WEBER, Shlomo, 2014. "Colonial legacy, linguistic disenfranchisement and the civil conflict in Sri Lanka," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2014048, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    6. Saumitra Jha, 2013. ""Unfinished Business": Ethnic Complementarities and the Political Contagion of Peace and Conflict in Gujarat," NBER Working Papers 19203, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Catalina Tejada & Eliana Ferrara & Henrik Kleven & Florian Blum & Oriana Bandiera & Michel Azulai, 2015. "State Effectiveness, Growth, and Development," Working Papers id:6668, eSocialSciences.
    8. Dominic Rohner, 2025. "Conflict," CESifo Working Paper Series 12035, CESifo.
    9. Remi Jedwab & Noel D. Johnson & Mark Koyama, 2019. "Negative shocks and mass persecutions: evidence from the Black Death," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 345-395, December.
    10. Jha, Saumitra, 2014. "‘Unfinished business’: Historic complementarities, political competition and ethnic violence in Gujarat," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 18-36.
    11. Ponticelli, Jacopo & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2020. "Austerity and anarchy: Budget cuts and social unrest in Europe, 1919–2008," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-19.
    12. Masahiro Shoji, 2018. "Religious Fractionalisation and Crimes in Disaster-Affected Communities: Survey Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1891-1911, October.
    13. Neudorfer, Natascha S. & Theuerkauf, Ulrike G. & Wolff, Stefan, 2025. "Territorial arrangements and ethnic conflict management: The paradox that isn’t," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    14. Lopez-Uribe, Maria del Pilar & Castells-Quintana, David & McDermott, Thomas K. J., 2017. "Geography, institutions and development: a review ofthe long-run impacts of climate change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65147, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Garret Christensen & Edward Miguel, 2018. "Transparency, Reproducibility, and the Credibility of Economics Research," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 920-980, September.
    16. Glitz, Albrecht, 2014. "Ethnic segregation in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 28-40.
    17. Zorzeta Bakaki & Roos Haer, 2023. "The impact of climate variability on children: The recruitment of boys and girls by rebel groups," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(4), pages 634-648, July.
    18. Barone, Guglielmo & Narciso, Gaia, 2015. "Organized crime and business subsidies: Where does the money go?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 98-110.
    19. Akresh, Richard & Lucchetti, Leonardo & Thirumurthy, Harsha, 2012. "Wars and child health: Evidence from the Eritrean–Ethiopian conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 330-340.
    20. Nicholas Kilimani, 2015. "Vulnerability to Climatic Variability: An Assessment of Drought Prevalence on Water Resources Availability and Implications for the Ugandan Economy," Working Papers 201562, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:60:y:2016:i:5:p:927-955. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.