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The roots of ethnic diversity

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Abstract

The level of ethnic diversity is believed to have significant consequences for economic and political development within countries. In this article, we provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of the determinants of ethnolinguistic diversity in the world. We introduce a model of cultural and genetic drift where new groups endogenously emerge among peripheral populations in response to an insufficient supply of collective goods. In line with our model, we find that the duration of human settlements since prehistoric times has a strong positive association with current levels of ethnolinguistic diversity. Diversity is further negatively correlated with the length of modern state experience and with distance from the equator. Our results are thus consistent with both “evolutionary” and “constructivist” hypotheses of ethnolinguistic fractionalization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gothenburg Centre of Globalization and Development, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Pelle Ahlerup

  2. Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Box 640, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Pelle Ahlerup & Ola Olsson

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  1. Pelle Ahlerup
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  2. Ola Olsson
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Correspondence to Ola Olsson.

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Ahlerup, P., Olsson, O. The roots of ethnic diversity. J Econ Growth 17, 71–102 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-011-9075-0

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