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Diversity and Public Goods: A Natural Experiment with Exogenous Residential Allocation

Author

Listed:
  • Algan, Yann

    (Sciences Po, Paris)

  • Hémet, Camille

    (Paris School of Economics)

  • Laitin, David D.

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the effects of ethnic and religious diversity on the quality of public spaces. Its identification strategy relies on the exogeneity of public housing allocations in France, and thereby eliminates the bias from endogenous sorting. The paper uses micro evidence of social interactions within housing blocks from the representative French Housing survey, which allows for a detailed identification of the channels through which diversity operates. Differentiating among three channels of public goods provision, the paper finds that heterogeneity in the housing block leads to low levels of sanctions for anti-social behavior and low levels of collective action to improve housing conditions, but no losses in public safety.

Suggested Citation

  • Algan, Yann & Hémet, Camille & Laitin, David D., 2011. "Diversity and Public Goods: A Natural Experiment with Exogenous Residential Allocation," IZA Discussion Papers 6053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6053
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    Cited by:

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    2. Borisova, Ekaterina I. & Polishchuk, Leonid & Peresetsky, Anatoly, 2014. "Collective management of residential housing in Russia: The importance of being social," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 609-629.
    3. Green, David A. & Riddell, William Craig, 2017. "Is there a tradeoff between ethnic diversity and redistribution? The case of income assistance in Canada," CLEF Working Paper Series 10, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    4. Mavridis, Dimitris, 2015. "Ethnic Diversity and Social Capital in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 376-395.
    5. Claire Adida & David Laitin & Marie-Anne Valfort, 2014. "Muslims in France: identifying a discriminatory equilibrium," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 1039-1086, October.
    6. Prerna Singh & Dean Spears, 2017. "How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision: Experimental evidence on caste and tolerance for teacher absenteeism in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Matthew Collin, 2013. "Tribe or title? Ethnic enclaves and the demand for formal land tenure in a Tanzanian slum," CSAE Working Paper Series 2013-12, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    8. repec:csa:wpaper:2013/12 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Irene van Staveren & Zahid Pervaiz, 2017. "Is it Ethnic Fractionalization or Social Exclusion, Which Affects Social Cohesion?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 711-731, January.
    10. Prerna Singh & Dean Spears, 2017. "How status inequality between ethnic groups affects public goods provision: Experimental evidence on caste and tolerance for teacher absenteeism in India," WIDER Working Paper Series 129, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Schaeffer, Merlin, 2013. "Ethnic diversity, public goods provision and social cohesion: Lessons from an inconclusive literature," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Migration, Integration, Transnationalization SP VI 2013-103, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    12. Valeria Rueda & Guillaume Laval & Etienne Patin, 2016. "Achieving the American Dream: Cultural Distance, Cultural Diversity and Economic Performance," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _140, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Francois Bonnet & Etienne Lalé & Mirna Safi & Etienne Wasmer, 2016. "Better residential than ethnic discrimination! Reconciling audit and interview findings in the Parisian housing market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(13), pages 2815-2833, October.
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    15. repec:oxf:wpaper:wps/2013-12 is not listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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