Journal of Political Economy Vol. 124 No. 2 2016

Ethnic Inequality

Alberto Alesina^1,2,3,4,5,6; Stelios Michalopoulos^2,7,5; Elias Papaioannou^1,2,5

¹ Center for Economic and Policy Research · ² National Bureau of Economic Research · ³ Harvard University · ⁴ Institute for Economic Research · ⁵ Centre for Economic Policy Research · ⁶ Economic Research Centre · ⁷ John Brown University

Abstract

This study explores the consequences and origins of between-ethnicity economic inequality across countries. First, combining satellite images of nighttime luminosity with the historical homelands of ethnolinguistic groups we construct measures of ethnic inequality for a large sample of countries. We also compile proxies of overall spatial inequality and regional inequality across administrative units. Second, we uncover a strong negative association between ethnic inequality and contemporary comparative development; the correlation is also present when we condition on regional inequality, which is itself related to under-development. Third, we investigate the roots of ethnic inequality and establish that differences in geographic endowments across ethnic homelands explain a sizable fraction of the observed variation in economic disparities across groups. Fourth, we show that ethnic-specific inequality in geographic endowments is also linked to under-development.

DOI

10.1086/685300

Volume

124

Issue

2

Pages

428-488

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

APA 7 MLA 9 Chicago (author–date) Harvard Elsevier Harvard (JFE, JBF…) The Accounting Review Academy of Management American Marketing Association INFORMS (Management Science) Copy citation Copied ✓