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Dynamic Ethnic Fractionalization and Economic Growth

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  • Campos, Nauro F.
  • Saleh, Ahmad
  • Kuzeyev, Vitaliy S.

Abstract

In their survey of the literature on ethnic fractionalization and economic performance, Alesina and La Ferrara (JEL 2005) identify two main directions for future research. One is to improve the measurement of diversity and the other to treat diversity as an endogenous variable. This paper tries to address these two issues. We study the effects of ethnic fractionalization on economic growth using unique time-varying measures across countries, for 26 transition economies from 1989 to 2007. Our main conclusion is that we can replicate the most recent results from the literature and show that static (exogenous) diversity is not robustly related to growth. However, when we account empirically for how ethnic diversity changes over time and treat it as an endogenous variable, our estimates show that it is negatively related to growth an effect which is robust to different estimators, specifications, and fractionalization measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Campos, Nauro F. & Saleh, Ahmad & Kuzeyev, Vitaliy S., 2009. "Dynamic Ethnic Fractionalization and Economic Growth," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Frankfurt a.M. 2009 30, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gdec09:30
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Jülide Yildirim & Nadir Öcal, 2016. "Military expenditures, economic growth and spatial spillovers," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 87-104, February.
    3. Samantha Torrance & Oliver Morrissey, 2014. "Taxation and Indigenous Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 14/04, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
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    5. Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2020. "The Economics of Language," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(2), pages 348-404, June.
    6. Javier Gardeazabal, 2011. "Linguistic polarization and conflict in the Basque Country," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 405-425, December.
    7. Maite Alguacil & Luisa Alamá-Sabater, 2021. "Migration in Spain: The Role of Cultural Diversity Revisited," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(4), pages 118-132.
    8. Vanschoonbeek, Jakob, 2020. "Regional (in)stability in Europe a quantitative model of state fragmentation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 605-641.
    9. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2019. "Transaction costs and economic growth under common legal system: State‐level evidence from Mexico," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 240-292, July.
    10. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Viola Berlepsch, 2019. "Does Population Diversity Matter for Economic Development in the Very Long Term? Historic Migration, Diversity and County Wealth in the US," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(5), pages 873-911, December.
    11. Marina-Alexandra Rotaru & Remus Creţan & Ana-Neli Ianăş, 2023. "Ethnicities in Post-Communist Romania: Spatial Dynamics, Fractionalisation, and Polarisation at the NUTS-3 Level," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-29, May.
    12. Shahid Yusuf, 2015. "Knowledge-based Economic Growth in Kazakhstan," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 7(3), pages 257-286, September.
    13. Phanindra V. Wunnava & Aniruddha Mitra & Robert E. Prasch, 2015. "Globalization and the Ethnic Divide: Recent Longitudinal Evidence," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1475-1492, November.
    14. Eydam, Ulrich & Gabriadze, Irakli, 2018. "Institutional development in Transition Economies - The role of institutional experience," MPRA Paper 87395, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Elissaios Papyrakis & Pak Hung Mo, 2014. "Fractionalization, Polarization, And Economic Growth: Identifying The Transmission Channels," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 1204-1218, July.
    16. GOMADO, Kwamivi Mawuli, 2018. "Diversité ethnique et déforestation dans les pays en développement: identification des principaux canaux [Ethnic diversity and deforestation in developing countries: identifying the transmission ch," MPRA Paper 89380, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Usman Khalid & Mohammad Amin, 2023. "The impact of ethnic fractionalisation on labor productivity: Does firm size matter?," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 2213-2249, October.
    18. Elissaios Papyrakis, 2013. "Environmental Performance in Socially Fragmented Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 119-140, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ethnic diversity; fractionalization; polarization; growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government

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