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Diversity and Conflict
Author(s) -
Arbatlı Cemal Eren,
Ashraf Quamrul H.,
Galor Oded,
Klemp Marc
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
econometrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 16.7
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1468-0262
pISSN - 0012-9682
DOI - 10.3982/ecta13734
Subject(s) - fractionalization , ethnic group , cultural diversity , diversity (politics) , population , interpersonal communication , polarization (electrochemistry) , divergence (linguistics) , demographic economics , geography , development economics , political science , socioeconomics , economic geography , sociology , social psychology , demography , economics , psychology , law , linguistics , chemistry , philosophy
This research advances the hypothesis and establishes empirically that interpersonal population diversity, rather than fractionalization or polarization across ethnic groups, has been pivotal to the emergence, prevalence, recurrence, and severity of intrasocietal conflicts. Exploiting an exogenous source of variations in population diversity across nations and ethnic groups, as determined predominantly during the exodus of humans from Africa tens of thousands of years ago, the study demonstrates that population diversity, and its impact on the degree of diversity within ethnic groups, has contributed significantly to the risk and intensity of historical and contemporary civil conflicts. The findings arguably reflect the contribution of population diversity to the non‐cohesiveness of society, as reflected partly in the prevalence of mistrust, the divergence in preferences for public goods and redistributive policies, and the degree of fractionalization and polarization across ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups.