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Measuring Ethnic Stratification and its Effect on Trust in Africa

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

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

  • Roland Hodler & Sorawoot Srisuma & Alberto Vesperoni & Noémie Zurlinden, 2018. "Measuring Ethnic Stratification and its Effect on Trust in Africa," CESifo Working Paper Series 7405, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7405
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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).
    2. Bossert, Walter & D’Ambrosio, Conchita & Weber, Shlomo, 2022. "Distance-based social index numbers: A unifying approach," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Huremović, Kenan & Ozkes, Ali I., 2022. "Polarization in networks: Identification–alienation framework," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    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.
    9. Solveig Hillesund & Gudrun Østby, 2023. "Horizontal inequalities, political violence, and nonviolent conflict mobilization: A review of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1589-1635, December.
    10. Stöhr, Christian, 2022. "The Effect of Micro-Entrepreneurship on Migration Plans of Young Adults in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediating Role of Subjective and Economic Well-Being," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 7(5), pages 1326-1360.

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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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