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Ethno‐Regional Favouritism in S ub‐ S aharan A frica
Author(s) -
Ahlerup Pelle,
Isaksson AnnSofie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
kyklos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1467-6435
pISSN - 0023-5962
DOI - 10.1111/kykl.12077
Subject(s) - ethnic group , government (linguistics) , politics , political science , demographic economics , economics , philosophy , linguistics , law
Summary Studies of political favouritism in Africa often treat ethnic and regional favouritism as interchangeable concepts. The present paper distinguishes between the two and investigates their relative influence in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Focusing on whether individuals perceive their ethnic group to be unfairly treated by government, we assess the importance of being a co‐ethnic of the country president, of living in the president's region of origin and of the regional share of president co‐ethnics. Empirical findings drawing on detailed individual level survey data covering more than 19 000 respondents across 15 African countries suggest that ethnic and regional favouritism are not the same, but rather have independent effects.