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Measuring Ethnic Stratification and its Effect on Trust in Africa

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  • Hodler, Roland
  • Srisuma, Sorawoot
  • Vesperoni, Alberto
  • Zurlinden, Noémie

Abstract

We define and axiomatically characterize an index of ethnic stratification that measures the extent to which the hierarchy in socio-economic positions across the individuals of a society follows ethnolinguistic lines. This index generalizes the idea of between-group inequality to situations where data on economic and ethnolinguistic distances between pairs of individuals is available. We define an estimator of our index that takes the form of a second order U-statistic and has well-behaved statistical properties, and we show that ethnic stratification is empirically related to low levels of trust in other people and institutions at the local level in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Hodler, Roland & Srisuma, Sorawoot & Vesperoni, Alberto & Zurlinden, Noémie, 2018. "Measuring Ethnic Stratification and its Effect on Trust in Africa," CEPR Discussion Papers 13368, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13368
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    Cited by:

    1. Hodler, Roland & Valsecchi, Michele & Vesperoni, Alberto, 2021. "Ethnic geography: Measurement and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
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    4. Zou, Ying & Zhong, Zhuoming & Luo, Jia, 2021. "Ethnic diversity, investment efficiency, mediating roles of trust and agency cost," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 410-420.
    5. Bluhm, Richard & Hodler, Roland & Schaudt, Paul, 2021. "Local majorities: How administrative divisions shape comparative development," Economics Working Paper Series 2110, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    6. Victoire Girard & Nicolas Berman & Mathieu Couttenier, 2020. "Natural resources and the salience of ethnic identities," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2007, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    7. Bertinelli,Luisito & Comertpay,Rana & Maystadt,Jean-François, 2022. "Refugees, Diversity and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10052, The World Bank.
    8. Richard Bluhm & Roland Hodler & Paul Schaudt, 2021. "Ethnofederalism and Ethnic Voting," CESifo Working Paper Series 9314, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Ethnic diversity; Ethnic fractionalization; Trust;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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